Dark Highway
by FrozenNote
Summary: Sequel to Decision Road. Post-Battle City. Marik x OC. / Curiosity killed the cat? Nah. This time curiosity got the cat into a lot of trouble.
1. alright

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 1/alright**

"LET'S GET WASTEEEEED!" came Joey's voice, as he was entering Marik's and Aka's apartment, along with Duke and Tristan. They were quick – just a few minutes ago everyone ran out of booze.  
"Party host, coming through!" Akane half said, half yelled making her way to the guys. The music was loud. "I'll be taking these!" she grabbed the few bottles of champagne to put them in ice.

Winter. December 23rd. Marik's birthday. Aka, being the loud and active type, threw him a party and invited some old 'battle city' buddies.

"Yugi! Tea!" she greeted, as Yugi and Tea finally arrived.  
"Hey, Akane! Where's Marik, we got some boxes for him to open!" he said, holding up his gift.  
"Ah, just throw them on the table over there, I don't think he'll be opening anything today!" she laughed, pointing to the pretty drunk Marik trying to play darts with some others.  
"Haha, alright! Have anything drinkable?" Yugi asked.  
"Ahh, we only got alcoholics… As much as I hate to say it, Yug, I'm not much of an underage drinking enthu-"  
She could not finish the sentence – Yugi transformed into the Pharaoh.  
"…aaand you're over 5000 years old now – knock yourself out!" Aka said, gesturing to the table full of drinks.

Akane and Marik moved to Domino just a few weeks ago. They were thinking about it for a while, and as soon as Ishizu got a job at the museum, it was settled. Odion didn't want to stay alone back in Egypt either, so Ishizu got him a job at the same museum – as a security guard.  
Odion was also asked never to use the words "Master Marik" ever again. Now, they were changed to"brother"…

Ishizu caught up with the busy party host: "Even if I don't like seeing my little brother drinking more than he can handle, I have to admit, Akane, you really know how to throw a party…"  
Aka smiled, "I do my best! And I wish I could enjoy it more, I barely got to spend any time with Marik, there's always something needed…"  
"Hey Aka, we're out of ice!" came Duke's voice.  
"See what I mean?"  
Ishizu smiled and left Akane to her duties.  
_I swore to myself that I'll make this party good, but I didn't really think that it would be so much work…  
"Oh, dear, is he really worth all this?"  
Yes, and you will never understand it. Now get out, Yami, I have enough things to worry about.  
"You're always busy when I come to talk to you."  
Yeah, I say that because I hate you, but now I'm actually busy, leave me alone.  
"Alright, darling…"_

Who said Yami Marik was gone? After everyone thought that they got rid of him, Yami Marik hid himself in Akane's head. Her head was just really easy to get into.  
There were a few differences, though:  
She never called him Yami Marik. He's nowhere close to Marik. He's just… Yami now.  
He can't argue with her much. The first days he was torturing her non-stop, until Aka's head started to hurt like hell. Apparently, if her head hurts, his hurts ten times more. Now she can threaten him and cause him pain. The tables have turned and Aka was in charge now. So they have to get along.  
Yet he refuses to leave her head.  
And Akane refuses to tell anyone about him being there. Not even Marik. Nobody.

"Hey Aka, Bakura passed out on your sofa…" Tristan said when she was walking by.  
"Yeah? Well, someone had to, sooner or later."

The British boy was back. Aka never found out how he escaped the Shadow Realm. And so did the spirit of the ring, but only Marik and Akane know about him. He tried helping Marik back in the tournament, at least, so he counted that as a favor. He's not entirely the Pharaoh's favorite person, as he said, so they were keeping it low.

Akane made more ice and decided to have a break. She found a can of cider and then found Marik, who had just lost another game of darts. "You suck at darts, blondie!" she said, as she was approaching him.  
"No, it's because I'm drunk…"  
"But Marik, you were just saying that you're not drunk when you were playing a game with Odion…" Joey said.  
"I'm not drunk… Who said I was drunk?"  
"…Come on Marik, time to sit down!" Aka dragged him to a nearby sofa. "I got a question. Is this your first time drinking?"  
"No… Maybe… Yeah… Wait, what's that supposed to mean, you're younger than me…"  
"Italy is an interesting place, you know."

For the two years that Akane didn't have her memory, she was living in Italy. As a teenager, of course, she had adventures of her own, which Marik is yet to find out about. Someday.

"Well I can say that I'm fine… I'm damn fine… Ra, I am so fine that…" Marik suddenly stopped.  
"Huh?"  
"Akane I don't feel so good."  
"Need some help?"  
"No, the bathroom isn't that far, I'll be fine…" he said, getting up.  
But soon Akane heard a crash behind her.  
_And that's where my break ends._

Maybe it isn't visible now, but Akane was a good influence on Marik. Apart from him collapsing and possibly passing out just now because of what Akane let him drink, she was good influence. He now has friends, he's not a psycho trying to take over the world… he actually has a life now.

"Someone get Marik back on his feet, I hear the doorbell…" Aka said, going to the door. "Who is it?"  
"Kaiba Corp!"  
Aka opened the door. "Hey, I remember you, you're the guy from the tournament!" she said.  
"Why yes! Ah, I am here because Mr. Kaiba could not make it to your party, so he asked me to deliver this gift."  
"Oh, thanks, man!" she took a spare can of beer she found standing around. "Here, for the trouble of walking here!"  
"Haha, thank you miss Naomi, have a good party!"  
Aka closed the door.

She was still Naomi to Kaiba. He never found out because he was too distracted by how rich and selfish he is. But Mokuba knew that her real name is Akane – his little brother, the one than she saved from falling into death. Sweet kid, he is! And at least Kaiba sent a gift. He didn't make it to the party because, once again, he was too busy being rich and selfish.

She put the gift box along with the others.  
"Aka, we're out of wine!"  
_Oh f*cking hell. _she thought. It was her turn to do a run to the store. "I'll be right back, guys, don't burn our apartment down!"  
Akane threw her coat on and made her way to the door, noticing the sofa that Bakura was in empty. _Well look who woke up. I wonder where he went; I didn't really see him… Probably in the bathroom…_  
It wasn't very cold outside. Winters in Domino were never too cold, they didn't even have snow. She locked the door and spun around.  
"Hello."  
"Waitwhat-!? Oh. Bakura, you startled me!" she shrieked. "You don't just sneak up on people like that!"  
"Sorry. I was getting some fresh air. Or actually attending the party a bit." He said. It was the spirit of the ring.  
"Ah, sad that you have to hide like that. You really think people would notice you there? I mean, you look like Ryou…" They started walking towards the store.  
"Akane, my hair goes up making me look like I have a bat in my head and my voice is a lot deeper than Ryou's. Believe me, they would. Also, would you like to go to Egypt?"  
"But come on, it's not like-wait, what?!"  
"Thought so."

If everyone lived happily ever after, there would be no reason to continue this story.

He was as quick as lightning – the cloth with chemicals was soon on Akane's mouth, almost instantly putting her to sleep, without letting her make a single sound.  
"Time to go back to Egypt, pretty-face." Bakura said, carrying her to his car.

* * *

**AN:** So welcome to the sequel of DR! Everyone, except Yugi, is now over 18. Because shut up. I honestly don't encourage underage drinking, but I can't really judge people, since I do that myself on occasions.  
Some stuff is OOC, like Marik drinking, even. But to hell with it, I mean it's a sequel of a fanfic, things change… Akane changed him, blame her :D  
Hope you like this so far. There's gonna be a lot of superstitious stuff later! And MAGICS!


	2. blue

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 2/blue**

Marik felt someone shaking him. "Wake up!" came his sister's voice. Marik's head hurt badly. He was sleeping on the same sofa.  
"Shh… Ishizu, quiet down… What do you want…" he murmured.  
"Marik, I can't find Akane anywhere."  
"She went to get wine…"  
"It's morning! Everyone left a few hours ago!"  
That made Marik open his eyes and sit up. "What..?" He looked around. The apartment was a mess, Odion was cleaning up a bit and Ishizu was standing by the sofa. She wasn't mad, she was worried. There really was no sight of Akane anywhere. "Maybe she just fell asleep somewhere… I'll go look for her…"  
Their apartment wasn't big, so the search ended quickly. She was gone, and the thought of that made Marik wake up completely.  
"Marik!" he heard Ishizu yell from the kitchen.  
"Found anything?" he asked, feeling that she didn't just go out somewhere on her own.  
"There's…wine in the fridge…" she said, pointing to the wine bottle. There was a note attached.  
"She's all mine now. –BR" it said.  
"Wh-… AW, F*CK!" Marik yelled.

Akane groaned as she was waking up. "Whaa…" She was still confused, the chemicals she inhaled really screwed with her head. Aka was in a car. _What the hell is going on… _She sat up and looked out the window. It was morning, and there was nothing else but plain fields around, and the single road that the car was standing on. _This seems like battle city all over again…_ she thought, opening the car's door and getting out. Even the single sound of a door opening hurt her head.  
_"You're killing me in here!" _came Yami's voice.  
_Not on purpose this time… What the hell happened…? Last thing I remember is… BAKURA!  
"Don't yell! Even in your mind, please, do not yell…"  
Wait until I find that asshole… I wonder why he got me into this…  
"Don't know, don't care, just get some pain killers!"  
_Akane felt him leave her thoughts. Short chats like this weren't that bad. She started looking around, but there was no sign of Bakura anywhere, unless he was in the nearby forest. Aka opened the trunk of the car. _My bag…_ she thought, looking at the orange bag. It had a few of her clothes and things inside, so she took it. Aka closed the trunk and looked around the car. It was dark blue. She wanted to key it so bad, but sadly she had no key.  
"Awake already?" came Bakura's voice from behind her. He seems to appear in places really fast.  
"YOU!" she said, turning around, frustrated.  
"Wait, I can explain! Just hear me out!"

"Ishizu, BR can only mean Bakura Ryou, please shut up with your maybe-it-wasn't-him theories!" Marik yelled. He was pissed off. Badly.  
"Okay, okay… But why in the world would he do that?" she said.  
"Hell do I know! Fact is, we don't even know where to start looking!"  
"Wait, wasn't she going to get some wine the last time we saw her?" Ishizu's voice sounded like it's getting on to something.  
"Yeah..?"  
"The 24 hour store!" both Ishizu and Odion said.  
"Then let's go!" Marik said, hoping to find something.  
"Alright, in my car."

Joey and his sister Serenity were out for a morning walk. Serenity thought it would be a good idea for Joey to get some fresh air and quiet after a party like that, but those plans were ruined by the screeches of Ishizu's car's wheels and a panicking Marik. "Akane's scarf! Joey, whee did you get that scarf?!"  
"Akane's? Oh… I found it on a branch not far from your home… Didn't know it was her, sorry." He started taking it off, but Marik stopped him.  
"That doesn't matter! It's about Akane, get in the car and show me where you found it, I'll explain on the way there!"  
Both Joey and Serenity were dragged into Ishizu's car. Joey started showing the way…

"I only need you to come with me to Egypt for just a little while! There's this one place I need your help in! After that, I'll bring you back to Marik, unharmed. Only that. If you refuse I'll just have to drug you and mind control you all the time and I really don't want to do that, so make it easier for both of us and come to Egypt with me." Bakura explained.  
That made Akane think. It's true, he still has the millennium ring, but Aka wasn't aware of that it can control minds as well. And maybe a trip to Egypt isn't that bad?  
She went up to Bakura and punched him. "That's for kidnapping me and drugging me! But… fine, I'll go."  
"Yeah, I deserved that… Good. I took your documents and a few things, which I see you've already found. And I have the tickets, the flight is in an hour. This won't take long, a week maximum."  
"I want to call Marik." she stated.  
"No! He mustn't know about this."  
"What, why?!"  
"I'll explain when we are finished. Now get back in the car. We have to get to the airport."  
Akane sighed. He annoyed her more and more with every passing moment, but there was no point in running away. A week isn't that bad… It's faster than getting drugged and mind controlled, probably.

"Now I don't have a single doubt that it was Bakura. His car was standing right here." Marik said, after they got to the place where Joey found her scarf.  
"So he drove off with miss Akane… Brother, what are we going to do?" Odion asked, just as worried.  
Marik was silent at first.  
"I'll think of something…"

* * *

**Important:** from now on, I'll be illustrating parts or people from my stories, so check my profile every so often! For now, have a drunk Marik picture :'D (link on profile). I may not be too good at drawing, but it's better than nothing, and if I get my friend to draw my shit for me, it's gonna be gooood!

**AN:** Bakura here is only the spirit of the ring. Bakura – spirit, Ryou – host body. That's how it does in my head… Review?


	3. cairo

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 3/cairo**

"It's quite a long flight. Should have taken a book to read or something… Maybe some music. You know. To make the flight a bit…" Bakura kept talking, but mostly to himself. Akane's mind was completely elsewhere – on Marik, to be exact. He should have noticed that she's gone by now.  
_I wonder what he's thinking or doing… Hope he's not burning down Domino to find me…_  
The plane lifted off.

"I feel like I'll have to burn down Domino to find her." Marik said. By now he was more worried than pissed. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted Bakura, I knew it!"  
All three of them, Marik, Ishizu and Odion were checking the apartment for any clues. Finally, Marik got some luck: "Her documents are gone. He won't keep her in the city, or Japan of that matter… Great…"  
Now he'd have to burn down the whole world to find her.  
"That might be a good thing…" Ishizu said, "The airports always register passengers."  
"As if they give out such information to random people…" Marik said, but then noticed Ishizu's face. It was a mix of guilt…and hope? "Ishizu… What's on your mind, sister?"  
She sighed. It was wrong, but it was a way to find Aka. "You could… borrow the millennium rod from Yugi…"  
Memories from the tournament flashed in Marik's head. He had no intentions to even get close to that item anymore. But if that's a way to find Akane… let it be.  
He stormed out the door, hearing "Wait for us!" behind him.

"Aka, wake up." She felt someone shaking her. She had slept through the whole flight. Turning her head she saw Bakura, looking at her. _Ah, how I hoped this was only a dream…_ she thought, irritated.  
"I'm up, I'm up… Let's get this over with…" Aka said, standing up with him and making her way to the exit. It was a good idea to change clothing to something summer-ish before the flight. As soon as she stepped outside, a heat wave rushed through her. _That's never pleasant.  
_After all, this wasn't her first time in Egypt.  
As they got out of the airport after having their documents checked, Aka immediately asked: "So, where to?"  
"A hotel nearby. I want to leave some things, and I think you do, too. Hop in." Bakura said, standing by a red cabriolet. A beautiful, fancy, red cabriolet.  
"You're kidding… How on earth did you afford this?!" Aka almost yelled, getting in.  
"Who said I did?" he hopped in without even opening the door and started it up.  
_Great. I'm the sidekick of a criminal._ She sighed, holding her black hat, so it would not be blown away as they were driving to the hotel.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, STOLEN?!" Marik freaked out.  
"Last night... When we were at the party... I came home only to find that the bag with the millennium items is gone..." Yugi said, upset. "Marik, why didn't you tell us about the spirit of the ring? We thought he had vanished..."  
"I guess you could say I was returning a favor… Which apparently was a big mistake." Marik said, blankly staring at the wall.  
"Well, you said that Bakura won't keep Aka in the country, so there's only one place the items may be useful to him, and that's Egypt."  
"Ishizu, drive me home and then to the airport." Marik rather demanded, than asked nicely. It was understandable – his girlfriend was being kidnapped by another man. There were endless thoughts in his head of what he could have done to her. Along with thoughts of how the hell did he get her through the airport security. _I doubt she'd go with him willingly… If she did, she would call. But with all the millennium items and their powers… I don't know. _Marik thought, as Ishizu was driving him back to his and Akane's apartment.

"Know your manners and carry my bag up." Aka demanded. She wanted to make this trip hell to him, for obvious reasons.  
Bakura sighed, irritated, but did as told. As she entered their room, she stopped almost instantly.  
"Oh, no, no, no, no, NO."  
"What now..?" Bakura looked at the crazed woman.  
"There's one bed. A double one. No way am I sleeping with you!"  
"Look, this is the only room they had, okay?! I won't touch you."  
"No. You sleep on the ground."  
"What?! You wouldn't even notice me there!"  
"Ground."  
"Akane, I will not sleep on th-"  
"Ground!"  
"But-"  
"GROUND."  
"ALRIGHT. For Ra's sake, fine, I'll sleep on the ground!"  
Aka smiled to her victory. She was being way too demanding for a captive, so to say, and Bakura didn't like it at all.  
_Wait until I make this into a living nightmare, bitch._

A single seat. The nearest flight to Egypt had a single seat left and Marik didn't feel like waiting another 3 days until the next one, so he had to go alone. Not like it mattered – he'd take care of Bakura any time. Of course, if he had a millennium item or if Bakura didn't have any. That's what worried him, along with the thoughts of Akane. He was afraid. _I don't want her in any more danger. Not after what she's already been through with me._  
"Passengers for the flight to Cairo, Egypt, please make your way to Gate 12."  
Marik stood up. That was his flight.

"So what's next, Bakura? Must we go to the place you need me in instantly?" Aka asked him as she finished putting away things she does not want to bring.  
"What do you have in mind? I thought you wanted this trip to be over as soon as possible?"  
"Well… Since I'm in Egypt already… I really loved the markets around here. Could we do some-"  
"Shopping? No." he snapped, angering her.  
"What? Screw you, I'm going shopping!" she said, leaving.  
_What?! Damnit! The girl is getting on my nerves! If I could actually mind control her, it would be very convenient now…_ Bakura thought, having no other choice but to follow her. His ring was not capable of mind controlling, and he had no intentions of showing her that he has the millennium items...yet.  
The Egyptian markets were a chaos, but if you were a good hunter, you could find some very good deals around them. And Aka was pretty good. _Oh that is such a gorgeous robe!_ she thought. Why would she need a robe? Who cares, it's gorgeous!  
"How much?" she asked the merchant.  
"100!"  
The first rule in Egyptian markets – say the most ridiculous price you can.  
"I'll give you 10."  
"What?! 50, at least!"  
"20." Akane stated.  
"Wh-… 30! Final offer!"  
"Deal." She said, paying the merchant and grabbing the robe. She turned around and looked at Bakura, who was following her around, not too happy about it. "Hey Bakura, look what I got!"  
He could not care less, but he still commented: "The only thing it matches on you is your name."  
He turned away and continued walking through the market, ignoring all the merchants who were trying to sell him something.

Akane meant blood red.

* * *

**AN:** Yay other people's thoughts!  
Another drawing is on my profile, Baku and Aka shopping! Ignore the shitty background; I just couldn't draw a market.  
Reviews are loved!


	4. desert

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 4/desert**

"Put on comfier clothes. There might be some climbing to do." Bakura said as he and Akane came back to the hotel after shopping. "I hope this is all you had to do before the real reason we got here."  
"See, that's the point, I still don't know what the real reason is…" she said, grabbing some other clothes and heading to the bathroom to change.  
_This is kind of creepy…_ Aka thought, throwing on some shorts and a simple shirt. _I really don't like where this is going._ She put on her fingerless gloves, but left her hat, knowing there would be climbing. _I doubt we'll stay in the city, unless he is a fan of parkour to climb something._ Her orange sneakers seemed to be the best choice of shoes for a long trip._ And as much as I like pissing him off, he still worries me. Even after he kidnapped me, he's still my friend… Wow, I am way too kind to my kidnappers. _She remembered the time when Marik kidnapped her. She was just as nice to him and everything turned out to be okay… more or less.  
"Hurry up, Autumn!" she heard Bakura knocking.  
"Don't call me by my last name."  
Akane never liked her last name. To others, it was pretty, but along with her name it was just _blood red autumn_. It sounded as if autumn was the season of slaughtering. _Ew…_ she thought, exiting the bathroom. "Alright, I'm ready to go."  
Bakura nodded and grabbed his own bag. Aka heard the sounds of metal things hitting each other inside that bag. _I wonder what he has there…_  
"Aka, do you understand directions well?"  
"Huh?" she snapped out of her thoughts, "Uh, sure, I guess so?"  
"Then take this." Bakura handed her a piece of paper. It had all kinds of directions written on it. "I'll drive, you navigate."  
"Who gave you these?" she asked, curiously looking at the paper and getting into the car at the same time.  
"A…friend."  
She looked at him suspiciously. Clearly it was no ordinary friend. "Okay… Well when do I start _navigating_?"  
"As soon as we drive out to the desert."

Marik booked a room in the nearest hotel. He threw his bag on the bed and went to the balcony. It was early evening, his day messed up completely due to time changes, he was exhausted.  
The view from the balcony only made him more upset – Cairo was a big city, who knows where Akane could be. _That won't make me sit around doing nothing. They had to book a hotel somewhere, even if Bakura is an asshole, he won't keep her anywhere un-civil. He's British.  
_But knowing how famous Egypt is among tourists, going to all hotels would take a while. He head downstairs and glanced at the reception desk of his own hotel. _It's a long shot… But why not give it a go…_  
"Excuse me," he caught the receptionist's attention, "but I'd like to know if, by any chance, Bakura Ryou and Akane Isht-..ah, I mean, Akane Autumn have booked into this hotel?"  
"Why yes," the receptionist said, making Marik's eyes widen, "they have, room 217. They left about 15 minutes ago, actually."  
_You have got to be joking…_ he sighed.  
"Would you like me to notify them about your presence when they come back?" the woman asked.  
"…By all means, no. It's… a surprise party." He said, making his way back to the stairs and up to room 217. He wasn't walking. He was stomping his way there, filled with rage. _I'll kill the bastard._  
Room 217 was in the second floor. The second floor was the one with double beds only. _I'll rip his brains out and feed them to the crocodiles of the Nile!_  
He continued raging inside his head, as he sat down by room 217 to wait.

"Alright, now just drive straight for 10 more minutes and we should be there. Wherever that is." Akane said, reading the last direction. She looked at Bakura. He was completely calm. "Listen, I really would like to know where we are going. I mean, I didn't call Marik and I'm not intending to, for now at least, you could tell me."  
"To be honest… No idea."  
"WHAT?!" she exclaimed, "We've been driving for 30 minutes now and you don't know where we're going?!"  
"It's not that I don't know where… It's…" he started explaining, "It's rather me not knowing what awaits us there. I was never in those ruins before."  
"Ruins? We're going to some ruins?" Akane asked, curiously. She was actually upset she didn't take her camera with her. She's never been to any ruins.  
"Yes, in the desert, if that wasn't obvious yet. It's this ancient place that could… help me." Bakura said, making Aka even more curious.  
"Help you..? But what's wr-"  
"THERE!" he cut Aka off, turning to the left. She did a pretty good job as a navigator; they were only slightly off course.  
The ruins were beautiful. But in the light of the sunset, they looked absolutely amazing. A single "wow" escaped Aka's lips, as she got out of the cabriolet, right after Bakura. The sound of the trunk opening dragged her attention away from the ruins.  
"Catch." Bakura said, throwing her some stick.  
"A torch?" Aka asked, as she examined the item. Bakura only pointed at the entrance of the ruins as an answer – it was pitch black. _Creepy._ she thought.  
She snapped back to reality as Bakura touched her torch with his own – it was already on fire. He was lighting her torch. "Why can't we just take flashlights?"  
"Ancient ruins are not the place for today's technology." He grabbed his bag and head to the entrance.  
_I have a feeling that this is not going to end well…_ Akane thought, but had no choice other than to follow him.

Out of all the gifts Marik got on his birthday, Akane's was the best one. She was tired of him always borrowing her mp3 player. Now he has his own. Marik was sitting by the same room and tapping his foot to the music, remembering what Akane told him on his birthday.  
_"When the party is over, you'll get something even more special from me…"  
_He smiled at the memory, but frowned at the situation. _I'll get you back, Akane. I promise._  
He rather promised it to himself, and continued waiting for them to come back. It's been hours.

"Woah!" both Bakura and Aka gasped simultaneously. They were still outside as the sun set, and a blinding green light emerged from the ruins.  
"What the hell was that about?!" Aka exclaimed.  
"We'll soon find out." Bakura said, entering the ruins. The light didn't frighten him at all, and again, Aka had no choice but to follow his lead.  
With torches in their hands, they head through the corridors of the ruins. _I thought they were called ruins, because they were supposed to be…ruined._ Aka thought, looking around. On the surface they were damaged, but underground the ruins seemed untouched.  
_"Your curiosity might be the end of you one day." _Yami was back in her head for a little chat, once again.  
_Or we might discover something amazing… These ruins themselves are a find, already._ She tried to find a good side of this adventure.  
_"Aren't you afraid? At all?"  
Are you taunting me?  
"No. I didn't mean afraid for yourself, but for Bakura. He did mention he needs help of some sort, and that this help might be found here, in these ancient ruins. Don't you think he might just be heading to his death?"  
_Akane stopped. _Do you know something?  
"As much as I would love to, darling, I don't. I wouldn't want you heading into death either, I need a body to survive."  
_He was right. Even if they hated each other, Yami would not want her dead.  
He never did.  
"You okay?" Bakura asked, gaining her attention.  
"What? Oh, yeah. Sorry I just… Wait, where are we?" She looked around. They were not in corridors anymore, they were in a big room.  
"We might have just found what we were looking for." Bakura said, heading to old torches in metal holders on the walls and lighting one up.  
To both of their surprise, after one was lit, all the torches lit up. With blue fire.  
"What kind of magic is this…?" Aka started to look around again. The room was beautiful, completely untouched by today's people. It was huge and had ancient scriptures all over the walls. There was a pedestal in the middle, possibly made to put a book on top. In front of the pedestal there were two round platforms – one slightly looked like the sun, the other one – like the moon. Both platforms were separated by a thick line. Akane approached them, noticing a big tablet in front. The scriptures on it were different, a lot bigger than the ones on the walls, as if saying that they are more important. Sadly, Aka knew nothing of ancient Egyptian.  
_"Let me help you with that,"_ came Yami's voice in her head.  
_"Two souls do not belong in one,  
Separated they must become.  
New bodies cannot be free,  
So you must pay a fee.  
Step on the sun before it sets  
And let the moon take care of the rest."_

Akane spun around, eyes wide, facing Bakura. "You want to separate from Ryou!"

* * *

**AN:** well this came out to be a longer chapter than I was planning!  
I suck at poems, you have no idea how long it took me Dx  
Review? C:


	5. egyptian

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 5/egyptian**

"Been taking ancient Egyptian classes?" Bakura only asked, calmly. Aka had almost given away her secret – the psycho living inside her head.  
"Uh, no… Marik taught me a bit…" She saved herself on the last minute. Bakura came closer to her, examining the ancient scriptures as well, smiling slightly as he was doing so.  
"Bakura… Why would you want to separate from Ryou?" she asked, worried.  
"You've read it yourself. A new body. I want to free him. I've been nothing but a burden to him, stealing his body all the time, overpowering him… I should be thankful for even having a body to reside in. So I started looking for a way to save both of us. And found it."  
Akane could barely believe what he was saying, but she was happy. _Maybe the spirit of the ring is finally realizing what he was doing is wrong…_  
She walked away, examining the rest of the room. "Well… It appears we've just missed your chance. As far as I understood, you'd have to be standing on the sun platform on sunset. We'll have to come back tomorrow… But why did you need me in the first place?" she asked, realizing she still does not know her part in all of this.  
"Well, I'll need someone to help me out with Ryou later. I didn't know who else to turn to. I thought about Marik, sure, but I didn't think he'd go through that much trouble for me. So… thank you. Now let's go, we'll come back tomorrow at sunset."  
Akane smiled and head back, Bakura after her.  
_Marik taught her this language… sure… _he smirked. _Foolish girl, there is no way Marik could ever teach you a language THIS ancient… Tomorrow you'll regret trusting me…_  
He, with completely unsuspecting Akane got back into the cabriolet and drove back to the hotel.

_Where are they?!_ Marik was getting more worried with every passing moment. He sat by the room 217 for hell knows how many hours now. His mp3 player had died and at least 3 people asked him, why he was sitting on the floor. They all got the same answer – waiting for his _friends_ to come back. _If Bakura laid even a single finger on her, this will be a bloody scene…_ But he remembered the millennium items. _…Hopefully…_

_She fell asleep. And to think I'm the one who hasn't had sleep for days._ Bakura thought as he pulled up by their hotel. "Wake up."  
Aka slowly opened her eyes. "Oh, we're back already…"  
It was a dark night in Egypt and Akane was sleepier than ever. They both got out of the cabriolet and made their way up the stairs in the hotel. Aka was in no hurry, so Bakura was going first.  
_I hope Ryou will be okay after this whole ritual… I am so glad, that Baku-  
_Aka's thoughts stopped as she felt Bakura spin around so fast that he even caused a gust of wind. He grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth.  
"Mmhmph?!" she tried to say "what the hell", but failed.  
"Shh!" he hissed silently, dragging her back down the stairs. As it was safe to talk, he released her.  
"We've got company." he explained. "Let's just go to the local bar or something."  
"Wait, what do you mean, company?" she asked, curiosity striking again.  
"…Yugi. Look, I haven't told you, but I stole the millennium items from him, because they are needed for the ritual. If he finds us, he won't let me go through this ritual and I won't be able to free Ryou!"  
Akane was silent, but a few seconds later she nodded. The sudden turn of events made her sleepiness go away, so she just followed Bakura to the hotel's bar.  
"Hold on, I gotta go use the restroom." Akane said, leaving Bakura behind, sitting on a bar chair. But she wasn't heading to the restroom. She made her way to the stairs, leading to the second floor.  
_Yugi should listen to me… I mean if I explain the whole situation, he should be all up for it. Ryou is his friend, and I'm sure I can convince him that Bakura isn't that bad now. He should-  
_But it wasn't Yugi who was sitting by their room.  
"Marik?!" she yelled, instantly catching his attention. He got up and bolted to her, then tightly wrapped his arms around her.  
"Akane! You're okay!" he pulled back, holding her by her shoulders, "Did that bastard do anything to you?! I swear, if he did, I'll-"  
"Marik, calm down…" she cut him off, "I'm fine. Nothing bad happened." She assured him with a smile.  
"Are you sure? He didn't rape you or anything?"  
"No!" she shrieked.  
"Okay, just… Let's just get out of here… I'll call the airport for the fastest tickets back home, come on, we can go to my room…" Marik dragged her with him.  
"But-"  
_"Don't. He's frustrated at Bakura. He won't believe a word you say."  
_The psycho in her head was right. Marik was stubborn. He looked like he could hang Bakura on the rope of his own millennium ring.  
As they got to Marik's room, he immediately launched a ton of questions at her; many of them being the same "are you sure you're okay?" over and over again.  
She was dodging Marik's questions just fine, until one: "Where is Bakura anyway?"  
She had forgotten about him. He must have noticed that she's gone by now. Bakura will think she abandoned him. "Akane? Are you su-"  
"YES. Blondie, please calm down, I'm fine… I just remembered I left some things in the room I stayed in. My bag is there." He started standing up with her. "Marik, I'll be fine, he shouldn't be in the room anyway."  
He was forced to sit down and watch Aka go back to the room 217.  
_Something's not right._

Akane opened the door, finding Bakura on the bed, resting. He glanced at her: "Told you not to go see our company."  
"You lied about the company in the first place." she went in, grabbing her bag. Aka was pissed both at him and herself.  
"You're leaving. That's why I lied."  
"I'll… Bakura, I'll help you." She turned around, walking towards the door, "I promise I'll come back."  
The door closed.  
"I know you will." Bakura smirked.

* * *

**AN:** review to help stop Bakura from doing evil deeds? :'D  
This is gonna get messy.

What a short chapter. Hm. I really need to work on making them all of similar length Dx


	6. fine

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 6/fine**

Akane looked at the peacefully sleeping Marik in the plane seat next to her. He was exhausted. It was amazing how fast he managed to get the tickets back to Domino. For the few hours that they were waiting for the flight, he kept her close. Marik was being overprotective, but it was understandable. Yet it wasn't too convenient – Aka had no time to go back and help Bakura. She felt guilt for leaving him like this. _I'll come back…_ she thought, _Maybe I can convince Marik to help him too…  
"Don't even bother. I don't think he will ever trust Bakura from now on."  
Hey Yami… I was wondering… Why the hell are you helping me? I mean we both know we f*cking hate each other.  
"I guess I'm just bored. Sitting in your head all the time isn't the most amusing thing."  
_Yami left her thoughts. It was different from when Marik was in her head – this guy at least leaves her thoughts alone. And he was helping.  
Akane started to make a plan how to get back to Egypt later. Buying more tickets is going to be expensive. And leaving everyone on Christmas… _Oh hell, I completely forgot it's Christmas…_ she thought. _That's going to be a bitchy move… But I want to get it over with as soon as I can._ She'd have to sneak out. There is no way Marik would let her go alone, not after this.

Aka had to quit her plotting as the captain announced that the plane will be landing in 5 minutes. She shook Marik. "Wake up, blondie, we're landing."  
He slowly opened his eyes and yawned. "Must you keep calling me _blondie_?"  
"Yes, yes I do." She showed him her tongue in a childish manner, making him chuckle.

"Home, sweet home!" Akane sighed, throwing her bag on the floor by the sofa. Marik walked past her, dropped on the sofa, pulled her down together and kissed her. He started playing with her hair, and then asked: "So… What was that thing you said I'd get after the party?"  
She smirked.  
"Akane-! Oh." came Ishizu's voice. She and Odion were standing between the doorway to the other room.  
"Oh… You guys are still here." Marik said, as Akane was getting off him.  
"Yes, we never left… Akane, you're alright!" Ishizu said, making the awkwardness leave the room. Aka stood up and went to hug them both.  
"I'm fine, guys. Why is everyone so worried…"  
"You were kidnapped by a two-faced British asshole, why would we not be?" Marik explained. "You never really told me how you got away from him, anyway? He had the millennium items…"  
_F*CK. THINK, AKANE, THINK._  
"Uh, he had the items? I thought Yugi held onto them…" she stalled.  
"Yeah… He never used them on you?" all three of them were glancing at each other, getting suspicious.  
"No… I mean I saw his ring, but I had no idea he had the rest of the millennium items…"  
"So… how'd you get away?"  
_"Remember how you escaped my hikari?"_ came Yami's voice in her head.  
"Same way I escaped you. I punched him in the face."  
After that she heard Odion and Ishizu snickering, and saw Marik blushing a little. From that she understood that this answer was good enough. _Um. Thanks.  
"Anytime, dear."_

Marik was reading a book, glancing at Ishizu and Akane decorating their Christmas tree. _She looks sweet in the Christmas hat… But that doesn't make up for something being wrong. She hasn't been herself, and anyone could tell she was avoiding my questions. Whatever happened with her and Bakura certainly wasn't "nothing", like she said. Oh Akane… what are you hiding from me…_  
"Oh I completely forgot!" Akane jumped, making Marik snap out of his thoughts. "I got something for you in Egypt!"  
_She managed to drag him shopping?_ But this thought was soon let go, as he again remembered how he kidnapped her.  
Akane went to her bad, took out a red robe and threw it Marik's way.  
"A robe?" he asked curiously, after catching it.  
"Uh-huh! I couldn't resist!"  
He smiled, went up to Aka and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks, sweetie."  
It made her smile too, but frown in her mind. _I have to leave tomorrow. Or an even a better idea would be to leave at night today; Marik's an early bird… He'll probably be making breakfast long before I wake up…_  
"Something is bothering you…" Ishizu said as soon as Marik left the room.  
"I thought you gave your millennium necklace away…"  
"Akane, anyone could notice it in your eyes. You can tell me." She said, offering a warm smile. Akane knew she could trust Marik's sister. She was the kindest person Aka knew. She looked behind her to see if Marik really isn't in the room. Aka let out a silent sigh before talking.  
"Bakura isn't evil. I only wanted to help him, but Marik found me before I could. Yes, Bakura kidnapped me, but when he explained his intentions I was determined to help." she confessed.  
"What did he want to do? I understand he still has the millennium items?"  
"Yes, he does… He said he needs them for this ritual, which would separate him from Ryou. He wants to fee his hikari, Ishizu. All I wanted is to help… Can I trust you another thing?"  
Ishizu only nodded, making Akane turn back again and check if Marik really isn't there.  
"I'm leaving tonight; I'm going back to Egypt. I have to help him, Ishizu. I feel like I owe him this… Please keep Marik away from going after me. I don't want to cause him trouble; I'll be back in a few days anyway. But I know he won't listen to me, he hates Bakura, so please keep this a secret." Aka asked. Ishizu had a worried face, but she nodded again.  
"Please, just be careful."  
"I will." she said, putting the last garland on the Christmas tree.

"How are you not tired after all that traveling?" Marik asked when he got out of the shower, while drying his hair.  
"I have no idea. I guess not sleeping at all is sometimes better than sleeping for an hour or so. You go to bed if you want, I'll watch a movie or something, and I'll come later." Aka told him, sitting on the sofa in front of the TV.  
"Alright," he kissed her cheek, "good night!"  
"You too."  
As he went to the bedroom and closed the door, Aka turned the TV on for background noise. She wasn't watching whatever movie was on. She needed a plan. _Marik falls asleep in about 20 minutes. I know how to get a plane to Egypt, but I need to get to the plane first. That's 5 blocks away… And it's dark and cold outside, but no snow. Hmm…_  
Akane waited a while until Marik most likely fell asleep, then grabbed her jacket, bag, and head to the door. _I won't get any public transport at this hour…_ She glanced at the wall clock that showed 2am. Her eyes trailed through the room and caught a shiny object.  
_OH NO… No, no, no… That's just… I can't… Oh Ra. I have to. This is blasphemy!_  
Aka yelled at herself in her mind, as she grabbed Marik's motorbike's keys and stormed out.

* * *

**AN:** BLASPHEMY I TELL YOU. NOBODY TAKES MARIK'S BIKE. NOBODY.  
I may update in chapters that are shorter than most people's, but I update very often c: good?  
And hey guise, notice how my chapters go like the alphabet..? I was wondering if anyone noticed this…guise? Review, guise? GUISE PLS.

Also sucky map of their apartment on my profile now c:


	7. glass

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 7/glass**

_I'm going to hell for this…_ Akane thought as she was getting on Marik's motorbike. He had taught her to how to ride it a while back.  
The engine roared.

It was being taken away from him. The one he truly loved, cared about and would do anything to keep safe, even if it meant death to him. The love of his life was being taken away from him.  
"MY MOTORBIKE!" Marik shot up as soon as he heard the engine. He turned his head to the empty side of the bed – the other love of his life was, in fact, gone too.  
"MY GIRLFRIEND!"  
He grabbed his red robe and ran to the door only to see that his suspicions were right – he saw Akane driving off with his motorbike. _I highly doubt she's just going for a ride or is stealing my bike. What has gotten into that girl…_ He went back in the apartment. _Ever since she came back I knew she was up to something._ He sat down on the sofa, and glanced at the Christmas tree, that was illuminated by colorful Christmas lights. _But doesn't she trust me enough to tell me?_ He looked to the ground and rested his head on his hand. _This Christmas sucks._

_Now I get it why Marik loves this motorbike so much… This is really fun._ she thought, while driving to Kaiba Corp. Aka left the motorbike in the parking lot and went straight up to the doors. She knew the Kaibas not only worked here, but lived here too. So Aka started knocking on the glass door.  
The security guard showed up quickly. "What in the name of- Oh! Miss Naomi?" she heard a familiar voice.  
"Hey, the same guy!.. Listen, man, I really want to know your name, because I'm tired of calling you "the attention duelists guy"…" she said.  
"Oh… Name's Roland. How can I help you, miss Naomi?"  
"Well you could start by letting me inside…" Aka said.  
He hesitated for a bit, but opened the glass doors for her. "What happened? It's almost three in the morning, miss…"  
"I know… I need Seto Kaiba."  
"Whaaat?!" he freaked out, "Mister Kaiba will be furious if I wake him up at this hour!"  
"Roland, it's an emergency. I need him, and I need him NOW."  
He again hesitated, but nodded and went upstairs. Aka soon heard Seto's voice, yelling at Roland, obviously for waking him up at this hour, so she made her way up the stairs too.  
"You sure look interesting in PJs." she said, looking at the very annoyed Seto.  
"What the hell do you want?! Waking me up at this hour?! Roland said it was some emergency, so what the f*ck did you do, blow up a bank or something?!" he yelled.  
"I need a flight to Egypt. Now." she simply stated.  
"WHAT?!" her answer pissed Seto off even more.  
"Look, Kaiba, we all know you hate owing someone a favor, and you still owe me one for saving your little brother back at your tournament! " Aka raised her voice as well. She didn't like Kaiba at all. Nobody did, he was a mean rich bastard.  
Her words made Seto shut up for a bit. Oh, how he hates owing someone… And that favor was Aka's ticket to Egypt.  
"I-..Bu-…GAH. Fine! Roland, get my jet pilot to fly this annoying geek to freaking Egypt! Now get the hell out of my room, both of you!" he yelled, going back to bed and making Aka smirk. Success.  
As they left, Aka asked Roland: "Is there a way I can get a motorbike on the jet?"  
"Sure! Even a car, if you like!"  
_Sweet. I'll even have transport there._

Ishizu was seated on the sofa in Marik's and Aka's apartment. Odion brought her tea as Marik kept asking her questions, as if they were in a police office.  
"Ishizu, I do not care what she asked you to hide from me; you tell me whatever she said NOW."  
"No, Marik. You can give up on me answering your questions; I promised her that I would keep this a secret. She didn't want to cause you any trouble and she promised me she would be careful." she tried to calm him down.  
"Well I'm pretty sure she will break that promise knowing how clumsy and naïve Akane is!" Marik sat down beside her and sighed. "Please, Ishizu, tell me where she went…"  
But instead, Odion spoke up: "Brother, I think you are being overprotective of miss Akane. Maybe she just needs some time alone. It was obvious that she does not want to be followed; you might want to give her some space for now."  
Marik stared at him. He wasn't used to Odion speaking his opinion out loud. Not because of the whole "Master Marik" thing, but because Odion was a quiet person.  
"Those were the words of wisdom, Marik, and you should listen to them. You should give both her AND Bakura a chance, he may not be that-"  
"Bakura?" Marik started at her.  
"Y-yes...? Oh wait no, Marik, don't-!"  
She was too late. He stormed out of the room to the bedroom in the speed of lightning, grabbed his own bag and ran out the door.  
"Why won't he ever listen…" Ishizu said, hearing Odion sigh as well.  
But soon Marik was back. "I uh… Need a lift to the airport…"  
Ishizu shook her head. "Marik, I am not taking you anywhere. You have to calm down and let Akane handle things on her own sometimes!"  
"I CAN'T. I don't want her in any more pain because of the whole ancient magic that I introduced her to in the first place! I don't want her hurt, I don't want her in trouble, and I don't want her to be in any kind of harm because I couldn't protect her! It's MY responsibility to keep her safe after what I made her go through! She's done way more for me than I've done for her; I HAVE to go back to Egypt and get Akane out of whatever she's gotten herself into! I'll f*cking WALK THERE if I have to!"  
Ishizu only started at him. She's never seen so much fury, pain and care, all mixed up at the same time in his eyes before. She sighed. "As long as we can come with you and you don't overreact when you find her AND let her finish whatever she was doing. WITHOUT you interfering."  
"Thank you…" Marik whispered, following Ishizu and Odion to her car.

* * *

**AN:** review for very weird time skips?! :'D I honestly have no idea how the time changes with so many flights from Egypt and back. It's just approximate, I doubt anyone cares much!...  
Review?

Oh and there won't be an update tomorrow! It's my bff's birthday, we are making her a rainbow party and there will be lots of rainbow food to bake, so I'll be a busy bee :D wish me luck with the rainbow cake!

&&thanks to TheAverIn for the red robe ideas! I didn't even think of it being a gift for Marik in the first place, really! C:


	8. hope

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 8/hope**

_Here we go again._ Akane thought, standing by Marik's motorbike that she "borrowed", right after she got out of the plane. Aka got on the motorbike and started it. The engine roared as usual, only notifying the girl that everything is okay. She smiled and stormed off, but was soon distracted by another sound. She stopped, to hear it better. Aka looked behind her.  
It was the sound of the jet taking off.  
_Looks like Kaiba wasn't offering a ride back home._ she thought, irritated. _But then again, who cares… Bakura should take me home after we're done with the ritual of his. This reminds me that I have to find the guy…_  
The engine started up again. The first place to look was the hotel that they stayed in.  
The time changes messed up Aka's day once more. It was about 7 or 8pm already, and she knew she has to be in the ruins at sunset, meaning there were only a few hours left to find Bakura.  
It was great luck that Aka had transport – the hotel was only 10 minutes away.  
The wind was blowing in her hair as she was making her way there. _I have to admit, I feel so good riding this motorbike… I feel so… free? I don't even know how to describe this feeling… No wonder Marik cares for it so much._  
Marik was in her head again. It was Christmas and she left. He knew she's gone; the missed calls in her cell phone gave that away. _I feel like a complete bitch. But I promised Bakura I'll be back. For once, Marik will have to trust me…_  
She tightened her grip on the bike and sped up.

_Something. Isn't. RIGHT._  
If anyone could hear Marik's mind, they would probably go deaf. His thoughts were screaming inside his head, and not to mention…  
"Mar-…"  
"WHAT?!"  
…he was completely on the edge.  
After realizing he just yelled at his sister, who had agreed to help him, he tried to calm himself down. Yet he still didn't want to be bothered, so he turned his head to the window, admiring the fluffy clouds floating by. "What is it, sister?" he asked, with a softer tone.  
"Nothing in particular… I thought that maybe you would want to talk, you seem really upset…" she said, sitting by him.  
"You don't say…" With that he ended the conversation. Marik was, by far, not in the mood for talking.  
_This isn't just some traveling she's doing with Bakura. She's naïve… I have to find out what that son of a bitch told her to make her run away… from me. And more importantly what does he want with Akane… It can be as simple as making me jealous for some reason… Or it can be a lot more complicated if he has some ancient magic involved… Bakura still has the millennium items, but can he control them all? For example, the millennium necklace? If it won't even respond to Ishizu, what makes Bakura think that it will respond to him? It makes no sense… Think, Marik, think! Damnit, if I don't end this now, she will just keep running back to Egypt. And I sure don't want to be a murderer… Even if it does sound tempting._

"He checked out earlier today, miss."  
"Alright, thank you..." Aka sighed. Bakura left the hotel, but why? He knew she was coming back. Maybe he didn't believe her. She walked out of the hotel. The sun was burning her skin and she could barely see. Akane took out her sunglasses, put them on and looked around again. Decorative palm trees, decorative bushes, decorative red cabriolet…  
_Wait, what? That's Bakura's!_  
She ran towards the shiny red car. If he parked here, he should be close! _Well that's a relief. Hm, wait, what's this?_  
The car's roof was down and Aka spotted a little note stuck between the radio and an ejected CD. The note had her name on it. Without hesitation Aka grabbed it.  
"I knew you'd come back. Hop in and meet me in the ruins." she read it out loud.  
_Hop in? To hell with that, I can't drive a car… _She gazed across the parking lot. _But I have the motorbike. For some reason I don't think this will be too much fun…  
_Akane remembered what Marik had told her about driving around the desert on a motorbike. The ride itself was never pleasant – it's incredibly hot, sand tends to get everywhere; in your eyes, mouth, even your pants. But the only thing worse than that – sandstorms. _"You do not want to get in a sandstorm. That's the worst place to be in when you're riding on a motorbike."_ His words echoed in her mind, making shivers go down her spine.  
_Let's just hope the weather isn't a bitch today._ Aka thought, getting on the bike.

"She won't answer a single call." Marik said, heading out of the airport. "What the hell do we do now? Ishizu, I would be grateful if I got another _hint_…"  
She glared at her brother. "Let's just head to the hotel you found her in, I'm pretty sure she will be there. And you promised to stay out of this if she's safe, so let me do the talking."  
"Call her now then! Maybe we're just wasting time going to that hotel!" he nagged.  
"Alright, I'll call her. But both of you go away, I don't want any unwanted noises. Maybe we won't even have to tell her we are here…" Ishizu said, shooing Marik and Odion away.  
She took out her cell phone and found Aka's number in the address book. _Here goes nothing._

The sun wasn't far from setting down when Akane arrived at the ruins. _Perfect timing, no sandstorms and I didn't get lost!_ She brushed some sand out of her face. _Although I wish there was less sand. I really am getting sick of it._ Akane looked around the ruins. There was no sign of any vehicle at all, except for the motorbike she arrived on. _Maybe Bakura isn't here yet._  
Akane adjusted her bag and head to the entrance of the ruins. This time there was no need for a light source – all of the torches of the walls were lit. She continued her way through the corridor; thank heavens there was only one way, otherwise she could get lost for good.  
Soon she saw the end of the corridor. The light coming from there was bright and slightly blue, meaning the main room was lit as well.  
Akane saw Bakura standing by the pedestal, his back facing her.  
"Merry Christmas, sucker! Told you I'd be back!" she yelled to him, smiling.  
Bakura turned around, but Aka's attention was stolen by her ringing phone. _What the… Oh, it's Ishizu… Damnit…_  
She answered. "Ishizu, what is it? I told you I'll be fi-"  
But her words were interrupted – a strong force smacked her cell phone out of her hand.  
Akane glared at Bakura: "Hey! Bakura, what the f*ck?!... Bakura…?"  
He was looking at the ground, his white hair hiding his face. Bakura looked up to her, revealing the most satisfied smirk ever, and then letting out a dark laugh.  
"Bakura… What is going on..?" she asked, feeling her knees getting weak.  
"Didn't your parents ever tell you not to trust strange men?!"  
"Oh, f*ck…" Aka took a step back and glanced to her phone, which was soon flung to the wall and smashed. The she looked back at Bakura.  
"Did you really believe that crap about me wanting to _free Ryou_?!" he was laughing like a maniac. "I knew you're naïve, but _that_ much?!"  
The laughing stopped and Bakura looked at her with the most horrifying look she's ever seen. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into…"

*beep beep beep*  
"Ishizu, what's going on?!"  
"Sister, please speak up!"  
"What the hell happened to Akane?!"  
"ISHIZU!"  
The last yell made her snap out of shock. She was wrong. Akane really got herself in trouble. In a whole lot of trouble.  
"Ishizu, please say something, your horrified face isn't exactly calming us down now!" Marik yelled.  
"She's… Bakura… I don't know where she is… But she's in trouble… Marik, I'm so sorry, I really thought she could…"  
Ishizu couldn't finish her sentence – tears filled up her eyes.  
"Ishizu… Please, this is not the time to be blaming yourself for what happened; we need your help if we are going to find miss Akane…" Odion said.  
She looked up at him, and then at Marik, who only made her shiver. He was standing still, not showing a single emotion. He was staring at her for a while until he could finally speak up: "Please tell me you have some kind of...ANY kind of information on where she is…"  
Ishizu looked to the ground and shook her head.  
_I can't._ she thought. _I just can't…_  
Ishizu ignored the scrap of paper in her pocket that was poking her leg.  
_I can't show him those directions._  
With all her heart, Ishizu hoped that the place, which the directions pointed to, was the last place Akane could be in.

* * *

**AN:** I'm going to be nagging Mammeth to draw this one thing for the next chapter. Don't know if it will be out by tomorrow though!  
And fyi the rainbow cake came out fabulous! :D

Hey, I know I have silent readers... Well stop being silent, I like reviews! Here, I'll even give you a cookie! *hands out cookies to reviewers*


	9. incinerate

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 9/incinerate**

Akane stayed quiet. She only stared at Bakura, thousands of thoughts of an escape plan rushing through her head, yet none of them being possible. Not when Bakura has the millennium ring. She glanced at his bag – yes, he brought all the millennium items with him, but why? Akane highly doubted that it was for the ritual.  
But wait. If the ritual was originally meant to free Ryou, what is it for now?  
Aka could not even start figuring that out – a strong force yanked her towards the sun platform, making her drop her orange bag behind. "Bakura! What the hell are you doing?!" she yelled, only to receive no response from him. She spun around on the platform, wanting to run, but was soon frozen by the force again. "Let me go, traitor!" she yelled, along with a lot of curses, which only made Bakura's smirk wider.  
He stood by the pedestal, his ring glowing as the ancient magic held Akane in place. Bakura glanced at her. _This is going to be a fun night._

Marik was standing outside, holding his head with his hands, pacing like a mad scientist.  
"All I heard was a loud noise, as if the phone dropped, then Akane yelled at Bakura, then I heard his laugh and something about trusting strange men… Then the line went dead…" Ishizu explained, shaking her head, "Nothing else…"  
"Did she mention ANYTHING about where she was heading with Bakura..?" Marik's voice was desperate.  
"Y-yes… But I don't think it will help… She said something about Bakura wanting to free Ryou, to separate from him or something… But I have no knowledge of such magic capable of doing so." Ishizu said.  
"I think I remember about such magic when our father used to lecture me, when I was reading scrolls… But I'm not sure." Odion said, "Might I suggest the local library? I have a friend who works there, he should let us in, even at this hour."  
Marik nodded and the three rushed off. He was fine with any idea at the moment, as long as it brought him at least a step closer to finding Akane, AND getting her out of whatever she's gotten herself into.

"Bakura! Answer me, you asshole! What does this machine do?! If you're not going to separate from Ryou, why are you making ME use its' power?!" Aka yelled, struggling.  
Bakura finally spoke up, the smirk never leaving his face: "Oh, I didn't lie about that part… This 'machine' does exactly what you know. It separates two souls that reside in one body…"  
"What?! Then why in the world are you using it on me, I don't…have…"  
Akane's heart skipped a beat when she realized who he really wants to free.  
_"Now, now, did you already forget about me, dear?"  
_"Oh no… Bakura, stop! You have no idea what you're releasing!"  
_"Did you really think I was helping YOU without a reason?"  
_"Bakura! Listen to me, this is a huge mistake!"  
_"Oh, are you still holding a grudge against me for murdering your family? How sad."  
_"Please, let me go, Bakura! Don't trust him! He'll betray you just as you betrayed me!"  
Akane suddenly felt freed from the force that was holding her. _Did he actually…?  
"No, sweetheart… The ritual is starting."  
_Akane's eyes widened as a circle of blue flames surrounded her. There was no way out of this ritual now. She looked at Bakura, whose smirk was still there. "No…" she whispered, as she felt another force getting a hold of her, this time – a much stronger one. She flinched in pain, feeling that the ground under her feet was gone – she was slightly hovering in the air above the platform, blue flames still surrounding her. She was terrified.  
The pain eased, but only to release a much stronger one on her – she arched her back, screaming, feeling as if something was being ripped out of her. And she knew exactly what it was. The process took only a few seconds, but it felt like hours to her.  
The pain stopped, letting Aka breathe in. Just a moment later, the strong force tightened its' grip on her and the ruins flashed with a blinding green light. As soon as the light was gone, the force let go and Akane harshly collapsed to the ground.

"Anything?"  
"No luck."  
The Ishtars were flipping through various books about ancient Egyptian magic – to most people those were just myths, but not to these three. You learn to believe more when you actually live with this sort of magic beside you.  
"I think I found something." Marik said, catching their attention. It was a large book, filled with ancient scriptures – something not many people could read.  
"The book says that there are ancient ruins not far from Cairo, where rituals of separation were done. These rituals sucked monsters out of people's souls, so the monsters would not possess them and make them wicked. But many rituals were done incorrectly, making the monster gain a body of its' own, threatening the rest of mankind. Some people took this as an advantage and this way created their own personal monsters, to guard them. The gods soon cursed the ritual and the people who used it for their own gain, making them suffer from unspeakable nightmares. The monsters turned against their creators, too. As soon as they were rid of, people abandoned the ruins, not having the courage to take a step inside ever again."  
Marik finished summarizing the scriptures and continued studying the book, to find more information, so he did not see how Ishizu and Odion were staring at each other.  
Odion remembered what and where these ruins were.  
Ishizu slightly shook her head, hinting to him to keep his knowledge to himself.  
_A day. I'll give her a day. I care for Akane, but Marik is family. I can't let him go there._

"Uuuugh…" Akane groaned, trying to get up on her feet. One of her elbows was on the ground, supporting her body, while her other hand was rubbing her head. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing the ground below her. She looked up.  
Yet another mental image was burned into her memory.  
Yami Marik was about an inch away from her face, kneeling beside her on one knee, staring into her eyes, as if piercing through her. Akane immediately jerked back, horrified. "Y-you…" she managed to mumble.  
He let out a dark laugh, similar to Bakura's. "Did you miss me?"  
Akane didn't reply. She managed to stand up, while the words _don't show fear_ were repeating in her head all the time. She then noticed a pointy golden object in Yami Marik's hand. _Oh no… That's why Bakura had the items…_ she realized.  
"So, Bakura, what do you think we should do with my little torturer?" came Yami's dark voice.  
"Torturer? I'm the one who was being tortured!" she protested, taking a step back.  
"Oh, dear, have you forgotten that you've been causing me really painful headaches on purpose? I'd call that torture. You have some evil in you too, just like us." he said, a smirk playing on his face. Oh, how he was enjoying this.  
"I'm nothing like you. You got what you want, now let me go!" Even if Aka said that, she didn't have a single spark of hope that they would actually let her go. No, it was close to impossible.  
"Oh, I have something else planned for you…" his wicked face started to come closer, so Akane started walking backwards. She needed a plan, the wall behind was so very close, she was running out of time, she would be cornered-  
*click*  
"What the?"  
Aka looked under her feet. She stepped on a pressure plate. A trap.  
The trapdoor under her opened, and she fell through it, screaming.  
"Damnit!" Bakura spat, glaring at the other spirit, "I didn't even know this place had traps! Why didn't you warn me?!"  
"Shut the f*ck up." Yami Marik glared back at Bakura, holding a finger up. They soon heard a splash. Akane had landed in water, making Yami smirk. "She's not dead."  
He stepped away from the hole in the ground and took his purple cape off.  
"How in the world are you still in the same clothes since I saw you last time?" Bakura wondered.  
"This machine has its' ways of working wonders. Many ancient things do, my dear Bakura. Now, if you will excuse me," Yami folded the cape and placed it on the pedestal. Then he walked back to the hole where Aka fell and gazed to it, "I have some unfinished business with our sweet Akane."  
He jumped into the same hole, hearing Bakura's curses slowly fading away, as the distance grew between them.

It would have been a deadly fall if it wasn't for the water pool she had landed in. Akane's clothes were wet and she was cold – the underground wasn't the most pleasant place to be in. She didn't wait around when she landed in the pool – Aka grabbed the mossy sides of the pool and managed to pull herself up. The room with this pool looked more like a well of some sort.  
Now she was heading down the first corridor the could see – there was no doubt that Yami would follow her. _He won't let me go that easily…_  
Just as these thoughts ran by her head, she heard another splash behind her, back in the room with the pool. She was already being followed.  
Akane sped up, she was almost running through the corridors. They were dark, but the torches on the walls were lit. How could they be lit? It seemed that nobody was in here for years…  
_"We had these torches that would burn for years. It was a little secret crafting recipe my family had."  
_The stone walls were making Aka think she's claustrophobic. The corridors were narrow at some points, making it hard to move fast. She took another random turn left and ran, until she noticed an entrance to a small room.  
_"My room was tiny, but I was happy to have one. It wasn't anything special; it only had a single bed and a small table beside it. I spent most of my time in there…"  
_She shook her head and started sprinting again, ignoring the room she just saw. She had to find a place to hide. Akane ran as fast as she could, trying not to make much noise until she reached a dead end.  
It was a room, way bigger than the previous one, with a pedestal-like stone table in the middle by a wall. There were two rectangular holes in it, most likely meant to place items in them.  
_"There was this big room for the millennium rod and necklace. I never understood why the items needed a separate room, it always sounded so stupid to me. There was only a single table in that room, designed for those items."_  
"You can't possibly hide from me in a place where I've lived all my life, dear Akane…"

The echo of Yami's voice somewhere in the corridors only confirmed what she was afraid of.

She was in Marik's tomb.

* * *

**AN:** you have no idea how long I've been wanting to write this plot twist, if you can call it that way. SO LONG.  
The reason this update took more time than usual was because I was bugging Mammeth to draw me a picture of Akane in the ritual. In the end it didn't work out and she just rage quit ._. so this chapter came out a bit longer since I had some time on my hands when I was bugging her.  
So, question, do you want short chapters but updated frequently, or do you want longer chapters, but updated slower? Your choice!  
…I'm not far from hitting the part where I don't know what happens next. Crap. I must think of something. I think I'm having a writer's block.

Also I got into Gravity Falls. That cartoon is amazing... With all the clues, codes and conspiracies... asdfghjkl...

And I don't care how long I will have to bug Mammeth, I will suck out an epic book cover from her. Just wait for it ._.


	10. jerk

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 10/jerk**

"Alright, he said he'll catch the nearest flight." Odion said, flipping his phone. Marik had an idea of inviting Yugi to Egypt. He was Akane's friend, but mostly he just hated Bakura, so he didn't hesitate a single bit. The Pharaoh might have some knowledge of the whereabouts of this 'ritual machine' Bakura took Akane to. _I don't get it… Why would he even need her there? To piss me off? Or to sacrifice her to the gods or something?!_  
Marik's mind was exploding from his colorful imagination.  
The three were in a hotel, waiting for Yugi to arrive. There was not much more they could think of, but Marik took the large book from the library, so he could study it more. He was hoping to find something more in those scriptures…  
He heard a knock on the door. Marik had booked a separate room from his siblings. Sitting on the bed with his legs crossed, studying the book, he didn't even look up to who was entering the room.  
"Marik…" came Ishizu's voice, "You need to get some rest, brother."  
"There's no time to rest now." he monotonically said, without taking his eyes off the book.  
"We will have a big day tomorrow, Yugi should be here somewhere in the afternoon. You really should rest."  
She sighed as Marik completely ignored her words and left, closing the door behind her.  
_Oh how I wish I still had the necklace…_

There was no place to run. She could see his shadow approaching in the corridors. He was right. She can't escape from him in this place. He knows every. single. secret.  
_Don't show fear_ repeated in her head again. _Fear feeds him. Remember Battle City. Fear only feeds him. Not a single emotion, Akane, not a single one!_  
She kept yelling at herself in her mind as she faced the entrance of the room she was in. The shadow of Yami was getting closer and closer, it was hard to keep a straight face.  
Soon he himself was standing right in front of her, smirking. "And you thought you could run." he said, sounding a lot like a snake, a cobra, ready to attack.  
Akane stayed quiet. It would be absurd to reason with him. He was too crazy to listen to anyone.  
She soon felt a force getting a hold of her again. _The millennium rod._  
"Have you missed me?" he repeated the question he asked before, "I thought you'd love to have some company down here in this tomb…" He started walking around her, spinning the rod between his fingers, like magicians spin their wands in circuses. He looked like a madman. No, he _was_ a madman.  
She was standing still (not like she had a choice), keeping a straight face.  
"Giving me the silent treatment, hm? We'll see how long you can keep this up until I break through you..."  
His words sent shivers down her spine. Her imagination was going wild. In a bad way.  
The force let go of her unexpectedly, and she almost fell as she lost balance, but Yami grabbed her by her collar, harshly pulling her close, and whispered: "Believe me, I _will_ break through you."  
Akane gulped.  
_Whatever happens, don't show fear. Don't show fear. DON'T SHOW FEAR._

Which coffee cup was this? The seventh one? Or sixth? Marik lost count. He forced himself to stay awake, to study the scriptures. Marik was going through them for who knows how many times, finding nothing helpful. He shook his head and put the book away, finally giving up. But the caffeine in his blood wouldn't let him sleep now, even if he was exhausted. He laid on the bed, without even closing his eyes. Marik stared at the ceiling, with another bunch of thoughts running through his head. Memories of Akane, of what they've been through together… There was no end to his worries while she was gone. With her he found peace. Akane was that one person who brought him happiness… Now that she isn't here…  
_I'll get you back…_  
Marik closed his eyes and sleep soon took over him, ignoring the caffeine.

*knock knock*  
His eyes shot open. Light behind the windows… Morning already? But he had just fallen asleep…  
*knick knock*  
The noise repeated, so Marik got off the bed and heavily walked to the door. How long had he been asleep?  
"Pharaoh…?" he greeted, a bit confused, seeing him behind the door of his room.  
"Hello, Marik. Ishizu told me you were finally getting some rest, so we decided not to bother you for a few hours…" he explained.  
"What?! What time is it?! How long was I sleeping?! Did you find anything out?!" Marik suddenly felt completely awake.  
"Calm down, Marik… I need to see that book you found in the-"  
The Pharaoh didn't even have to finish – Marik, with the speed of light, grabbed the large book and shoved it into his hands. "Th-thank you… Come, we should get to Odion and Ishizu."  
"What time is it?.." he realized that he still didn't know.  
"About 6 in the evening…"  
Marik muttered a curse under his breath. _Ishizu should have awakened me! Damnit, there's no time for sleeping now!_

How long has it been? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks?  
Time didn't exist to her anymore. Time was dead to her.  
Akane was badly bruised. She had an open wound on her left arm, along with her clothes being ripped in a few places.  
She was chained to the wall. It wasn't really much of a chain, just a rope, but it was strong enough to hold her in place. On top of that, she was silenced by a simple bolt of cloth tied on her mouth.  
The bruises, they burned. Every burn reminded her of where exactly in this room she got it. Yami had been throwing her to the stone walls, on the ground; he played with the force of the rod however he wanted. She was nothing but a doll to him.  
And that continued for a while. He came into the room every once in a while to torture her until she won't be able to take it anymore.  
Akane was strong, but she was close to becoming insane. One part of her wanted to beg to be killed or sent to the Shadow Realm. But the other part, however, refused to do so. _It's all he wants…_ _I will not give him what he wants..._  
Another rush of shivers passed through her body as she heard footsteps coming closer. _Not again, Ra, please no more…_ But she had to pull herself together as Yami came back into the room he left her in.  
"You know, I actually killed Marik's father in this room. Wouldn't it be ironic if his girlfriend died here too?" his wicked voice filled the very same room. He walked up to her and jerked her up from the floor she was sitting on, holding her by her collar.  
He took the millennium rod and started 'drawing' on her face with the sharp edge, until he pressed hard enough on one part to make blood flow down her cheek. He traced the blood drop with his eye, then licked it off.  
_I'm going to throw up...  
_Even if Akane tried to show a strong soul, her body was giving up. She was so tired, her legs couldn't even hold her own weight.  
"Look at you… Still trying to survive, even if your body can't last much longer… It's pathetic." he said dropping her back on the floor. Akane wanted to wince from the pain that single action caused her, but forced herself to stay quiet. She leaned back to the wall to support most of her weight and kept looking to the floor. He wasn't back to torture her, he was only back for a bit to mock her. Yami left in a few seconds, laughing.  
For the first time in so long, she let herself cry. She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally…  
But the worst part is that Akane couldn't even rest.  
She couldn't sleep.  
The nightmares.

* * *

**AN:**I really, really have no idea how to write out these...tortures of some sort. Guess there's a first time for everything. I feel bad for my OC actually.

GET TO DA PROFILE. I actually drew something new. Wow. *sarcastic clap from somehwere* Okay…


	11. keep

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 11/keep**

"I'm sorry, but this is completely unfamiliar to me… I can't even remember my own name, so… I'm truly sorry, but I am no use." The Pharaoh said, to their disappointment.  
Marik heavily sighed, leaning to the wall. "Well what do we do...? I don't even know where to start looking for these ruins… We have to split up and go all around Cairo looking for them…"  
"Marik, I… I haven't told you everything… Akane… She left… directions…" Ishizu quietly confessed, taking out a tiny scrap of paper out of her pocket, and giving it to Marik.  
He grabbed it, yelling at the same time: "WHAT?! Ishizu, we could have f-…"  
He stopped when he read the directions. Marik knew the desert well, especially near Cairo.  
"This is not a good idea. You shouldn't go back there!"  
"Ishizu's right, Marik… Maybe we're the one's who should go…"  
Marik glared at Odion, shooting him a glare, that said "you knew too?!"  
But his mouth didn't let out a single word. He grabbed his travel bag, threw it on his back and stormed out.  
"He never listens…"

_No, no, no… I can't fall asleep… I have to stay awake… I don't want to deal with them again…  
_But Akane's body thought otherwise. She was growing more tired with every moment; it wasn't long before she would simply pass out.

"Hi, I need to rent a motorcycle!"  
"Sure, what kind?"  
"ANY KIND!"  
Marik was waiting in the car rent office, which, luckily for him, had motorcycles too. He could drive a car too, but was way fonder of a motorcycle.  
He was looking around the office as the staff was taking care of some minor documents. A small-medium sized decorative dagger on the wall caught his eye. _I completely forgot I'm going empty handed…_  
"Hey, how much for the dagger on the wall?"  
"What? Oh… It's not really…"  
"I'll pay you double than for how much you got it for."  
"Oh… Okay… That would be 60$ then, I got it in America… 70$ and I throw in the leather sheath too!"  
"Deal."  
Marik strapped the sheath with the dagger to his belt. Maybe the dagger was decorative, but the blade was surely sharp enough to cut Bakura's throat.

Spirits. No, _ghosts._ Everywhere in the room, everywhere around Akane. They were screaming, howling, screeching, floating in circles around her, threatening to attack. Akane pressed herself closer to the wall, wanting to just sink into it. One by one the torches in the room were going out, as the spirits were creating gusts of wind. She was being consumed by darkness, exactly how these ghosts wanted. Akane tried following them with her eyes, but it was impossible – there were about 15 ghosts in the room, each one letting out a different, horrifying sound, each one wandering separately.  
Suddenly one spirit started screaming louder than the rest, so loud that Akane had to put her hands over her ears. The spirit charged at her, piercing through her chest.  
Aka jumped, breathing heavily. She fell asleep. The pain in her chest was far from being a dream, though.  
It was all too real to be an ordinary nightmare.

_Maybe this isn't my motorbike, but it's better than a car for sure._  
Marik was driving in the desert, towards a place he had no wish to go back to. _The directions were slightly off, though… But my old home is closest to that location, and at least I know I'll be close to finding Akane. _He tightened his grip on the motorbike. _Damnit, Bakura, what is going on in your wicked mind…? What did Akane ever do to you…?_  
He was still lost. His old home, the tomb, it had nothing to do with this 'separating machine' thing. And why drag Aka there?  
A familiar trapdoor was visible in the horizon. It was late, but the desert was still illuminated by the sun, which wasn't too far from setting. Marik stopped the motorbike a few meters away from the trapdoor. He got off, came closer and lifted the heavy door.  
Darkness.  
He took off his backpack and found a flashlight, then threw it back on.  
_I never thought I'd ever have to come back here again…_  
He started going down the stairs, shivers running down his spine.  
Marik truly didn't want to go back to his old home. But he knew that somewhere in that darkness he may find Akane. The light.

They were back. At this point she even _wanted_ to see Yami; he would at least keep her from sleeping and from seeing those ghosts… Now the piercing wasn't enough to wake her up. She knew she was dreaming, at least she hoped so. The spirits kept piercing through her, as if ripping something out with every time they did so. She was tossed and turned, but couldn't run away. Even if in her dream she wasn't chained and had no cloth on her mouth, she couldn't run. She couldn't scream, either. Aka wanted to, but nothing came out of her mouth as she tried. She wanted to call for help, but her voice was gone.  
_Akane…_  
Were the spirits talking? They were whispering her name… She looked around, feeling weight on her shoulders.  
_Akane!_  
But no spirits were charging at her. In fact, they were fading away, their screams quieting down…  
"Akane! WAKE UP!"  
She wasn't asleep anymore. Aka was back on the floor she had been on for a while now. It wasn't the spirits shaking her shoulders, or whispering… And the only other person down in this tomb was Yami.  
"Ra, what has he done to you…"  
Aka felt fingers on her cheek. It wasn't Yami's voice. She slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head.  
_M…Marik?_  
The happiness of seeing him was over in a second. Her eyes widened. Aka started squirming, trying to yell, but all that came out was "mmmph mph!" from behind the cloth.  
"Calm down! I'll get you out of here!" Marik yelled.  
But she kept squirming, trying to get the cloth off her mouth.  
"Akane, I said calm down! Have you lost it?!" he took the dagger from behind his belt and cut off the ropes that were holding her hands.  
She didn't lose it. She just wanted to rip off the cloth, and scream:  
"BEHIND YOU!"  
Marik tightened his grip on the dagger and spun around, expecting to see Bakura.  
Bakura would have been so lovely to see.  
Marik was soon slightly lifted to the air by the force of the rod, staring into the eyes of a familiar person.  
"But.. h-how...?"  
Yami smirked as the force threw Marik to the wall and pinned him there. "How does it feel? The force of something you used to control? Ironic, isn't it?"  
"Y-you're supposed to be...gone..."  
"Oh, I was never gone... I resided in your precious girl's head..."  
He looked back at Akane, who was trying to stand up, with all the strength she had. She was leaning to the wall for support, glaring at Yami, clenching her teeth from pain.  
"Too bad she didn't want to _worry_ you and kept it a secret... Maybe you could have prevented me from coming back... But thanks to your naive girl and Bakura, I'm right here. You, however... Oh I'm still thinking what to do with you... Maybe I should keep you as my personal torture target?"  
Marik was in a shock. His yami. Right in front of him.  
"Don't... you dare... touch him..." Aka said, heavily.  
"Oooh, look who's talking. What are you going to do about it, dear? You can't even hold your own self up! You're not the one who should be making threats."  
She took a step forward, but lost balance and had to lean back on the wall.  
*click*  
A pressure plate? Again?  
No. This time it was a stone in the wall she leaned on. The wall opened and she fell through, hearing Yami's "what the f*ck" behind her. Akane collapsed on the floor, but still managed to stand up shortly after. A tiny, secret room. Yami's words made her realize that he had no knowledge of this room... or its' content.  
A small pedestal was the single furniture item in this room. On top of it was something similar to the millennium rod... This 'staff' was a few inches longer, didn't have blades, but still had a sphere with the millennium symbol on it. The sphere was in a leaf-like pointy end, sort of like the magic want that the Dark Magician had.  
"Don't you dare move." she heard Yami's voice behind. He was still holding Marik with the force, so he couldn't stop her.  
She felt attracted to the item. As if she knew that she was destined to find it. It was her last chance.  
Aka grabbed the item.

* * *

**AN: **I had to decide between this and a tiara because nothing else came to my mind. Is this too much? Yes? Okay... ._.  
Reviews make me fired up for writing… Just a hint! Really. I don't have school tomorrow, so if I get fired up, you'll get an extra long chapter. If I have ideas. Which I will if I'll be fired up.

REVIEEEEW... *hands out more cookies to reviewers*  
Again, special thanks to those two sweet people who review every chapter! You're awesooome!

STAFF PICTURE ON PROFILE.


	12. light

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 12/light**

Power.  
The only thing she felt was power, flowing through her veins. Her skin was being cleansed, bruises and wounds – already gone. Her body felt as light as a feather. She opened her eyes, seeing streams of light around her, spinning, like it was a ritual of healing. She grasped the staff tighter as she felt the healing coming to and end. With this item she felt strong. It was meant for her, it was _made_ for her. She took another deep breath as the staff's power eased off. She was standing on the ground in perfect shape. All of the pain from the tortures was gone.  
But Akane knew it wasn't over yet.  
"Put that staff down, dear. You don't even know what it is or how to use it… You might hurt yourself. We wouldn't want that to happen, now, would we?" Yami's snake-like voice traveled up to her ear from behind.  
"I may not know what it is…" she simply said, slowly turning around, "But I know exactly how to use it."  
If Yami could go crazier than he already was, he did. Glaring at her, he released Marik from the rod's control and pointed the golden item at Akane. "Nobody likes a liar." He threatened her by taking a step closer, his rod still pointing at her.  
"Look who's talking." Unlike her last encounter with Yami, this time Aka didn't have to tell herself to hide fear. She didn't have to hide it, because there _was _no fear. For some reason she knew that this staff would be her escape, the item giving her power to stand up to this monstrosity in front of her. This abomination. This…darkness.  
Yami's patience was done for. The eye on his millennium rod glowed, meaning a moment later Akane should be held by a force.  
But she was prepared. She closed her eyes and swiped the staff in front of herself. There was pain in her chest for a second.  
As Aka heard a crash, she opened her eyes.  
Yami's spell had backfired. Aka looked around in disbelief – a transparent, yet slightly visible force field was around her. It was like a shield, which bounced off Yami's attack, directing it back at him, making him fly all the way across the room Marik was in.  
She came back to her senses, loosening her grip on the staff and the force field disappeared. Akane ran out of the secret room and rushed to Marik, who was on the floor, still trying to understand what just happened. He glanced at her, then the staff, then his yami, then all around the room.  
"Marik, I'll explain later." she said, offering him a hand and helping him up, "I'm sorry I hid this from you, it's just…"  
He cut her off by putting his fingers to her lips. "No time." he said, glancing at Yami, who had passed out, making her take it as a hint. "We'll be fine. Now let's get out of here."  
Akane nodded and they both started running, but after just a few steps Marik flinched. His leg was badly hurt after Yami flung him to the nearby wall.  
"Stay still." Akane said, confident. Marik narrowed his eyes, having a questioning look on his face, but didn't say anything – it wasn't an approval or disapproval. It was neither, yet he stood still.  
The girl grasped her staff tightly, letting her energy flow through it, becoming one with the power she held in her hands. Aka heard Marik gasp as dim lights started swirling around his injured leg.  
"What in the name of-… That's how you recovered…" he realized as she was performing this _magic_ on him. True, Marik didn't see just how she recovered; he was in the other room, pinned to the wall…  
The healing was over in a few seconds. As Marik stretched out his leg, everything seemed to be in place. He nodded and ran, right after he grabbed Aka's free hand and pulled her along, guiding her through the corridors, towards the exit.  
"Just how in the world are you capable of these things..?" he asked as they were running.  
"I honestly have no idea… I just… I know how to use it. I don't even know what it is, but I know how to use this staff. Being around you taught me some things about destiny and fate, Marik. Well, I think I was bound to find this staff." she answered, with random breathing intervals. They were close to the exit.  
"Believe it or not, I know that feeling. The same happened to me with the millennium rod, I didn't exactly need instructions to find out what it does and how to do it…" he took a deep breath as they had a quick rest from running. "And from the looks of it… I think you've found the 8th millennium item…"  
Aka face-palmed: "F*ck! We forgot to take the millennium rod! We just left it there!" She wanted to run back, but Marik stopped her.  
"No way! He might be awake by now! We'll figure something out, but for now, believe me, I want to get us both out of this Ra-damned tomb!"  
He was right. Some _reinforcements_ would be quite handy when facing someone like Yami. They both started walking up the stairs in front of them.  
The feeling of wind brushing against her skin made her feel like the happiest person on the planet. Soon they were out of the tomb, standing in the desert as the sun was near setting. _We're out of the darkness…_  
Something inside her snapped as soon as she saw a light source in the desert.  
The ruins.  
"Marik." she said, demandingly, catching his attention, "This isn't the entrance that I used. See that light over there, a bit further away? Take me there. Your motorbike is at that location and there's something I need to do."  
It was as if he heard the snap too. Marik didn't even argue with the confident woman standing in front of him. "Hop on."  
Akane got on an unknown motorcycle behind him, one arm around his waist for safety, the other – holding the staff.  
The millennium staff.

Her hair was just as messed up as her face, or at least she thought so, so the wind didn't matter. Marik stopped by the ruins, eyeing his motorbike. "I didn't do anything to it. You said it yourself once – I'm a good driver." she said.  
But the awkward silences were common at the time. They would continue like this until she explained everything, and now was not the time. Akane stood in front of the entrance. "Stay here."  
"No."  
"What..?" she looked back at Marik.  
"No," he repeated himself, "I will not stay by the entrance like some dog. I'd rather follow you around like one… Really, Akane, after all we've been through, you keep leaving me behind, hiding things from me, things in which I could actually help! I know you're going after Bakura, but all you have is some magic stick, while he still has 6 millennium items!"  
"Stored in a bag!" she protested.  
"Not the point! What I was trying to say was… just start trusting me already. I'm not the psycho who we just left behind anymore."  
Akane was staring at him, starting to feel guilty. _I've left him in obscurity for so long… Hell, I might make things even worse…_  
She closed her eyes and nodded. "I'm sorry, Marik… I just didn't want to cause you trouble…"  
He smiled and came closer to her, lifting her chin up, making her look at him. He was smiling. "You're one big trouble anyway, you know that?"  
Aka chuckled. "Come on. I still have something to settle with Bakura. Just promise me you won't interfere unless I'm in trouble. This time I actually have a plan." she gazed to the sun what was near setting.  
"Right." Marik said and followed Aka into the ruins, after she bolted in first. "What's your plan?"  
"You'll see. Just keep it down for now, we're close." she said as she saw the blue light at the end of the corridor. Akane slowed down and quietly approached the entrance. Then she turned back to Marik and whispered: "This time I really need you to stay here. As soon as Bakura is on the platform, grab the bag with the millennium items over there," she pointed at the bag, not far from the pedestal, "and run back here. Then wait for me. I'll take care of the rest."  
"Just how are you planning on getting him on the platform? And why?" he whispered back.  
"Trust me." she glanced at the staff she was still holding. "I can do this."  
Marik nodded and she entered the room. Bakura had his back turned to the entrance, so he did not see her. She moved as quietly as she could, hiding the staff behind her back.  
*crack* _F*ck, not yet!  
_The cracking of the stone floor immediately caught Bakura's attention. "What the-? _You_?! How did you escape?!"  
_I need some more time._ "Well…" Akane started walking slightly to the left. "Yami isn't as smart as you think he is…" Slowly she placed herself in front of Bakura, in a way that the sun platform was right behind him. She was still hiding the staff.  
Bakura didn't take his eyes off her. "And yet you were foolish enough to come back here. For what? The millennium items? Or maybe it's just because you couldn't resist me?"  
"Oh please!" she chuckled, "I'd rather be banished to the Shadow Realm than that."  
"Be careful what you wish for, girl…"  
Bakura's eyes narrowed and his millennium ring started to glow.  
_It worked!_  
Akane grasped her staff and created another shield, revealing it to the very surprised Bakura. It was too late for him to call off his spell. Just like what happened to Yami, Bakura's spell backfired too, only not as strongly. He was only pushed back a little, then tripped over the edge of the sun platform behind him and was laying right in the middle of it.  
Shortly he jerked up, glaring at her, not realizing where he is sitting. "What in the name of Ra is that?!"  
But soon his attention was turned to the sprinting Marik, grabbing the bag with the millennium items. He stood up and the millennium ring was glowing again, now directing its' power towards Marik. But it was too late… The blue flames ignited around Bakura, not letting the spell pass. He glanced at Akane, who was smirking just like he was before.  
"Time to finish what I came here for." she said, watching Bakura as he was lifted up in the air, groaning. Soon Marik was by her side, instead of running back to the entrance.  
"What's happening to him?"  
"Same thing that happened to me…" she slowly started walking towards the moon platform, still glancing at Bakura, who was now screaming. His voice filled the room.  
"Sounds painful…"  
"It is." She stopped in front of the moon platform, waiting for the ritual to end. "And as far as I remember, only the person on the sun platform feels pain. Unless your yami feels nothing at all in general…"  
"You're separating him from Ryou…"  
She nodded. _After all, this is what I was hoping for from the start of this journey._  
Bakura's screams stopped and the blinding green light was here yet again. They both covered their eyes with their arms. As soon as it was gone, Akane opened her eyes and saw Bakura collapsed on the sun platform…and a very confused Ryou, on his feet, unharmed, standing on the moon platform.  
"Ryou!"  
"A-..Akane? What… Where am I?" he looked around noticing the spirit of the ring, "How is he there, and I'm..? Marik, is that you? Are we still in Domino...?"  
She grabbed his hand and started running, Marik right behind them both, bag with the millennium items on his shoulder. "No time! I'll explain everything later! Now run before he wakes up! We have to get as far as we can!"  
The British boy, still _very_ confused, only nodded. The three soon got out of the ruins and saw the moonlight shining on the desert. "Mind if I ride your motorbike one more time?" she asked Marik.  
He smiled, "Be my guest! Ryou, get on the bike behind me."  
He did as told, and soon both engines roared simultaneously.

* * *

**AN:** well this seems to be the longest chapter so far. I should do that more.  
And hey, seeing my traffic stats, I know there are at least 7+ people reading my story… And only 3 of them reviewed, 2 of them still doing so on every chapter… Guys, come on, your opinion really matters to me! :c


	13. magic

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 13/magic**

Kul Elna. It was on fire.  
But Bakura wasn't a boy anymore. He was a man standing in the middle of everything, watching people die around him, his friends and family… And he was unable to move. The fires were getting closer to him; he could feel the heat burning his feet.  
He was on fire.

Bakura shot up, gasping for air. The cold, hard ground under him reminded him of what happened just a while ago. _Ryou?_ he asked in his mind.  
No response.  
"Damnit! The bitch… She separated me and Ryou…"  
Bakura looked at the tablet in front of him, certain words burning his eyes:  
_"New bodies cannot be free,  
__So you must pay a fee."  
_Nightmares were now haunting him as well. But knowing he is not afraid of the shadows, his nightmares were different. Yet they felt just as real…

"Are they going after us?"  
"I don't think so!"  
The three were driving in the desert, getting as far as they can from the ruins. There was no doubt that sooner or later their enemies would follow their steps. And if not; they would still release their anger on the world. So the best idea was to go back to the center of Cairo and tell everyone what happened.  
_Oh Ra…_ Akane thought, as she was riding by Marik and Ryou. She had her staff clenched in the same hand that was holding one of the handlebars, so it was extremely uncomfortable. _How am I going to tell the Pharaoh what I've unleashed on the world… Again._  
"Uhh… Guys… I think we have a _little_ problem…" Ryou distracted her from her thoughts. "Look what's behind us…"  
That being said, Akane and Marik looked behind at the same time.  
"Marik, is that what I think it-?"  
"SANDSTORM!" he stopped his motorbike. So did Aka a moment later.  
"Why are we stopping?!"  
"There is no way to outrun a sandstorm! Grab any cloth you can and put it over your face, then over any exposed skin, before-"  
"Marik, shut up, calm down and get your motorbike closer to mine. Ryou, you come closer too. I got this."  
"What..?"  
They both watched Akane as she got off the bike, holding her millennium staff tightly. She knelt down in between the motorbikes and them.  
Once again she felt her energy mixing up with the power of the staff. Aka pinned the staff down on the ground, making a transparent shield emerge around them.  
_When Yami directed an attack towards me, I felt pain in my chest…_  
The shield completely closed off above them.  
_And the same happened with Bakura, only I didn't retaliate much…_  
She eyed the storm, which was now in front of her, heading towards the group.  
_Now let's see how useful this staff is against nature._  
The storm hit their shield bubble, and with that Aka winced from pain. It wasn't that she was being hit – it was pain from the inside, as if she was absorbing the grains of sand.  
She grasped the staff tighter and groaned. Somewhere around her she heard the echo of Marik yelling her name, but it wasn't important to her now. Aka only cared about keeping the shield up. She ignored words, which were fading away, ignored her vision going blurry and her legs going numb. All of that only made her tighten the grip on her staff.  
The few minutes seemed like hours.  
Akane felt the pain ease off in her chest. The storm was getting weaker. The night's sky soon hit the shield. Akane, breathing heavily, looked up; the moon was shining on them once again, with only a few grains of sand now floating around.  
"It…worked…" she heard.  
Ryou's words confirmed that they were safe. She let go of the staff and collapsed on the sand.

"No… she seems to be alright now…"  
Akane slowly opened her eyes. Marik's hand gently brushed against her cheek.  
"Here," he said, handing her a bottle of water, "we don't know if it was the heat or whatever magic you just performed here that wore you out… But you passed out for a few minutes…"  
She gulped down the water that was in the bottle – no doubt it was the magic. She noticed that she was leaning on one of the motorbikes.  
"I'm pretty sure this is bad timing, but would anyone please explain to me, what is going on? I'm still quite lost…" they heard Ryou, who was standing behind them.  
Akane, using her hand and Marik as support, heavily stood up. "You'll hear everything when we get back to Cairo, Ryou… We really don't have time now… Come on…"  
She wanted to climb back on the motorbike, but Marik stopped her: "Hey, there is no way you are in a condition to be riding that thing. Ryou, can you ride a motorbike?"  
Ryou nodded.  
"Good. You get on this one; I'm getting on my own. Akane, you're going with me."  
She wanted to protest, but then felt how weak her legs…her everything became. She really was in no condition to drive by herself. Then it hit her: "Where's my staff?!"  
The way she yelled freaked both of the guys out. "It's right over there…"  
Aka glanced at the direction Marik pointed out – her staff was safely darted into the sand, a few meters away. She let out a sigh of relief and went to take it. As she laid her hand on it, Aka noticed something strange on her wrist. It was a purple line, as if drawn on her with a purple marker. She tried to clean it off with her hand, but it didn't even smudge. She eyed the mark more carefully – it was like it was _under_ her skin, like a purple tattoo.  
"Akane! You okay?!" she heard Ryou's voice behind her.  
She spun around, her staff in her hand.  
"Yeah… I'm fine…"  
Akane decided to let it go and head to the motorbike Marik was waiting on.

* * *

**AN:** short lil' chapter to keep you guys updated. I think I'm getting over this writer's block I had for a few days, I'm figuring out how to patch up a plot hole in this story. Also there's a new story that I've started, a little something to keep me going while I was on a block with this one. It's called In A Dream. Another Marik one, this time with Ryou's now alive sister – Amane. Who's pretty much an OC. Oh well!  
The new story will be updated a lot slower, as I keep DH as priority and I want that new story to have long chapters.  
Love you all!  
I will be serving hot coco for my reviewers! :D


	14. news

**Dark Highway  
Chapter 14/news**

The three, Marik, Akane and Ryou, were back at Cairo, standing in front of the hotel the Ishtars and the Pharaoh stayed in. The moon was still visible, by the looks of it, it was about 3 or 4 in the morning. The boys looked tired, but Akane… she looked exhausted.

"So… Question. How are you going to explain to the Pharaoh that the same great evil is threatening the world again?" Marik asked, walking by Akane up the stairs. Ryou was behind them.  
"Me?.. Why me? He's _your_ yami!" she protested.  
"But he's been living in _your_ head for the past month."  
"Marik…"  
"Alright, we both explain this to him. It's just that you know way more about this than I do. You're the one with the magical stick this time."  
She smiled, but her smile was soon wiped away as they stopped by a door. The room that the Pharaoh stayed in. She could hear Ishizu and Odion talking with him, meaning they are there too. "You ready?"  
Aka nodded.

"So, the great wannabe Pharaoh let little Akane escape his grip, huh?"  
Yami glared at Bakura for the comment as he entered the ritual room in the ruins. "Watch the words, Bakura! Her runaway was... unplanned…"  
Yami went to the pedestal that he had left his purple cape on. He threw it on himself, then turned to Bakura once again: "She was here, wasn't she?"  
Bakura unwillingly glanced to the sun platform for a split second. "Indeed."  
"Well what do you know," Yami smirked, "someone lost their other half, hm?"  
"Shut. Up." he hissed.  
"Why do you even care about your hikari?" Yami narrowed his eyes.  
"To someone as bad as I am it should be obvious - I liked having someone to torture." Bakura leaned on a wall. "So, what's your brilliant plan now?"  
Yami's smirk turned into a wicked grin, as he looked at his good old duel monsters deck, that's been with him all the time, and then glanced to the platforms. "Oh, there's a plan alright…

Akane hid her millennium staff behind her back and entered the room. "Er… Merry Christmas?"  
"Akane!" "Marik!" "BAKURA?!" Everyone yelled a different thing, along with a different tone. The Pharaoh's voce was rather a growl, when he yelled "Bakura".  
Akane immediately calmed him down. "Bakura's not here. It's Ryou… I made sure of that…"  
Ishizu looked at Ryou with disbelief. "You separated!"  
Ryou's look was just as confused. "Akane, please, if you could just explain what's going on now… Honestly, the last thing I remember is your apartment, Marik's birthday… I really don't think I drank that much that I ended up in Egypt, in some ruins… And… what is that you said about me separating? Do you mean the spirit of the ring? I've noticed my ring is gone and he was laying-…"  
"Ryou, just sit down with the rest… I'll explain everything."  
He stopped talking and sat down on a sofa by a little coffee table, so did everyone else, except Marik. He never left Akane's side.  
"Now then," she started, "do you want to good news of the bad news first?"  
"Bad news." everyone said in a chorus.  
"So… I kind of… Sort of… Released Marik's yami and now the whole world is at stake. Again."  
"YOU WHAT?!"  
"OKAY TIME FOR GOOD NEWS! I separated Ryou from Bakura with this ancient separating machine and found the 8th millennium item!"  
Ryou, Ishizu, Odion and the Pharaoh stare at her in disbelief. Then finally the Pharaoh repeated himself: "Again, YOU WHAT?!"  
Akane took the shiny, golden object behind her back and revealed it to the amazed people on the sofa. "I… I found the 8th millennium item… Or, well, I think it's that."  
She put it on the coffee table and let everyone examine it.  
"In all my years of studying, I have never heard of such thing…"  
"It has the millennium symbol, the eye, too…"  
"How could this be…"  
Everyone was thinking out loud, still amazed by the find, until Marik interrupted: "As much as Akane will hate me for this, I have to remind you that we still have an evil maniac on the loose."  
The Pharaoh turned his attention to him. "Yes, that's true… Marik, Akane, could you please tell us, in detail, what happened, and how? I thought he was gone, in the Shadow Realm?"  
Akane sat down and started explaining everything – how Yami hid himself in her head, how Bakura was working with him and tricked her, how she was forced to use the machine in the ruins, how she ended up in Marik's tomb-home, about the staff's powers, how they managed to separate Ryou… But she still left out little details, such as the nightmares she was having, and the purple swirls and streaks on her right wrist.  
What she _didn't_ know, was that under her orange fingerless glove, the markings were spreading.

* * *

**AN:** I am so terribly sorry. No, I'm not dead, it's been over a week and you wee probably expecting some really long chapter or something… Sorry x.x  
So… I was gone because I was back to playing Borderlands 2. I finished it yesterday and now I'm in some sort of a gaming hangover. I don't know what to do with my life, but I don't want to do anything and just… Oh gosh don't ask. It was the best game ever and now I'm… asdfghjk hangover.  
Definitely not a writing mood. Nope. Nuh uh.  
BUT AT LEAST I FIGURED OUT HOW TO COMPLETE THIS STORY. Yay, no more writer's blocks!

976 words? I suck.


	15. oh

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 15/oh**

Akane devoured the food faster than anyone with her. Yes, devoured.  
"Oh Ra, I have never been hungrier…"

She and everyone else decided to go to the restaurant in the hotel. Well, it was rather Akane demanding food, as she hasn't eaten for who knows how long. After finding out she was gone for only a few days, she calmed down. But her stomach was begging for food anyway, so all "let's save the world" plans had to be postponed.  
They're all human, after all.

_I'll have to look into that purple mark later…_ she thought, glancing at her right wrist. Aka still had her fingerless gloves on, along with a long sleeved jacket she threw on. Her bag was left behind in the ruins, but Ishizu brought her some clothes from home. _Where could it have come from? I swear, if yami tattooed me…_  
Akane lift her sleeve up a little… something she shouldn't have done with everyone else around. Then she quickly dragged her sleeve back down.  
_HOLY-_  
"You okay?" Marik asked, looking at her, worried. He was sitting next to her.  
"Yeah, fine, why?"  
"You…gasped… Just now."  
"Oh… I uh, this food has something spicy in it…"  
_WHAT THE F*CK IS THAT. OH MY GOD._  
"Okay… I guess it's just been a stressful week; I'm just paranoid…" Marik went back to eating his food, but everyone was still glancing at her, so Aka had to keep a straight face.  
_WHY IS THAT…STUFF… SPREADING?! WHAT DISEASE IS THIS?! OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO DIE._  
"Be right back, lady's room." she casually said, getting up from the table, not attracting much attention. Aka rushed to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. She took off her jacket and her gloves. _Oh what the hell is this thing…? Did yami inject something in my arm when I passed out?!_  
She was examining purple swirls and twirls that were on her arm now, not only her wrist. Now she could clearly see that they're under her skin, but Aka still desperately tried to wipe them off. They had spread almost halfway to her elbow now.  
_This definitely goes to the 'not good' folder… How am I going to explain these marks to everyone… Especially to Marik, the guy's gonna go nuts! I can't show my arm to them. not now!_  
Akane tried to calm herself down a bit, trying to see the bright side of it… then failed to do so and just decided to keep her face as straight as possible. Apart from having exotic tattoos, there was no bright side.

"How much time is it anyway?" Akane heard Ishizu ask, as she came back to their table.  
"It's 5 in the morning… And I know we don't have too much time but we need to get some sleep. Otherwise we won't be much help in the battlefield." Odion said.  
Everyone nodded in agreement.  
"We just paid for the food, come on, you can stay with me… We should really get some sleep, especially you." Marik said, then turned to the others, "Is it okay if we meet back in the hallway at 9am?"  
Akane didn't hear what they said, what Marik replied, nothing. His words about sleeping froze the time for her. Sleep can only mean one thing – nightmares. The ones that Marik does not know about.  
Oh, and another thing, too. Who sleeps with a jacket and gloves? Nobody does.  
"I'm not sleepy. I slept in that tomb a lot…" Akane started saying, while she was entering Marik's room.  
"What the hell are you talking about? You look exhausted, and you'll need that rest for later. We'll need you to help out with the staff, possibly…"  
She glanced at her staff. It was with her all the time, except for when she was in the restroom. "I'm… I'm really not sleepy…" she said, looking at him again. Her voice was suggesting otherwise.  
There was a moment of silence, then he spoke up: "The nightmares."  
Aka's jaw dropped. "H-how did you..?"  
"The book… We found a book about the separation rituals, that's how I knew where to look for you… And since Bakura forced the ritual, you had to take the blame, and now you're cursed with nightmares…"  
"Well did it say anything about how to get rid of the curse?! Or about the staff?! Or..? Did it say anything else?" she wanted to ask him about purple marks, but decided to leave it for later.  
Marik shook his head. "Only about the rituals…"  
Aka sighed and heavily sat on the bed, the staff still in her hand. _I'm cursed._ she thought. _I'm cursed to have those horrifying nightmares for the rest of whatever. _She rested her head on her other hand. Marik was right, she was exhausted. But how could she rest, knowing what awaits her?  
"Akane…" Marik sat down on the bed next to her, "I don't know what nightmares you are having, but I'll be there." He put his fingers under her chin and lifted it up, making her look at him. "I promise to keep you safe. Even if it means keeping you away from nightmares." Marik kissed her on the forehead. "Get some rest. If I notice anything wrong, I'll wake you up."  
"But what about you?"  
He climbed on the bed, and then pulled her closer. Aka laid her head on his chest and felt him running his fingers through her hair. "I'll be fine. Go to sleep…"  
She felt the last kiss on her head and slowly drifted away to sleep in his arms…

Sadly, her night wasn't dreamless.

* * *

**AN:** what is up with me and these short-ass chapters?! *sigh* Well, the good news is that from today I have a vacation for a week. So maybe I'll update frequently again? Hopefully. I gotta get ready for Halloween though! :)  
Reviewers get free invisible spooky candy!


	16. patience

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 16/patience**

"I thought he would wake me up… Why am I not even moving, not one bit…"  
With every time she slept, her dreams kept getting even creepier. By now she thought it's not even a dream anymore. Akane was looking at herself, laying next to the fully awake Marik. It was as if her soul was kicked out of her own body. Marik occasionally played with her hair to keep himself awake. He didn't know that she can see everything.  
Aka then looked at herself. She had this slightly transparent body, much like Marik did back in battle city. What made it creepier were, of course, the ghosts. They were circling around her as usual, targeting her every so often. It was a relief that this time they were at least piercing through her arm, not her body. It still hurt, of course. Every time a spirit did so, she looked at her body, hoping to see at least some sort of twitch, signaling Marik to wake her.  
"Maybe if I find out what these spirits want, they'll leave me alone… Or however this works… Wait-"  
Only then it hit her that they were charging into the arm that had the markings.  
Aka's soul wore the same clothes as her body. She rolled up her sleeve.  
"Oh Ra."  
The markings went up all the way over her elbow now, almost making it to her shoulder.  
"The spirits piercing through… They might be causing this…"  
She waited around until another ghost charged at her.  
The spirits weren't _piercing_ through… They were getting _inside_ her arm, and every time they did so, the markings grew. And no matter how much this freaked Aka out, she couldn't help but notice the movements next to her – Marik.  
"What is he…?"  
She watched him carefully. He stood up, trying not to wake her (which would have been a good thing to do in this sort of situation) and went to the light switch. Marik turned the lights off, and then came back to her.  
Aka didn't even notice that another ghost was charging at her. As it got sucked into her arm, the marking started glowing. She directed her attention to it, and then around the room – this was the last spirit. Her marking was _glowing._  
And so was the one on her body. In the dark, Marik clearly saw the glow under her jacket. The glow was that bright...  
"Huh…" she heard him say.  
Aka watched him lift his hand up to the sleeve of her jacket.  
"Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit!" she panicked, thinking what to do, how to get back inside her body.  
_Wait. Inside my body… If the spirits could do so… Maybe I can…_  
She reached out and touched her own body's hand. The last thoughts of _why didn't I think of this before_ ran by and she was sucked back in.

Aka jerked up, now in her own body, and quickly turned her head to the startled Marik: "What did you see?!"  
He stared at her at first, for some time. "What's… happening to you?"  
Akane noticed herself shaking. Maybe it was the panic, maybe the stress, or maybe the spirits were working their way inside her.  
"I… I don't know…" she said, with a shaky voice, "those markings came out of nowhere, and…"  
"What markings?"  
"Wh-… You didn't see the markings? But you asked me what's happening?"  
"Yes, because you look like either you are very scared; either you are going nuts… What markings are you talking about?"  
"I… I…" Aka slowly backed away, until she was standing on the ground, "Just… forget it. There are no markings. Nothing."  
"Akane… Then explain why I can see something glowing under your jacket…"  
"It's nothing…"  
Then suddenly, their conversation was cut off by… a roar?  
"Did you just hear that?" Aka said, trying to figure out if it's just her, actually going nuts.  
"I…did…"  
The broke their eye contact and stormed to the balcony. Aka flung open the curtains, what was supposed to let light in the room. "What in the…?"  
Marik opened the glass door to the balcony and stepped out, with Aka following him.  
They both stared at the city, in silence. It was like hell on earth. Many recognizable monsters were terrorizing Cairo. Duel monsters. The only difference was that they were real.  
"Pretty sure I know who's doing this… but how…?" Marik said, as a Revival Jam flew by. He eyed the sky – it wasn't as dark as the night, but it was dark alright. Definitely not how it was supposed to be at 8 in the morning. "Akane, if you know anything, it would be a good time to tell me. And the others… we have to go wake them up before this gets even more out of hand…"  
Aka wanted to say something, but was cut off by a sharp pain in her arm. She winced, catching Marik's attention, and saw one of the spirits break out of her arm. Then another one. And another…  
"What the hell are _those_?!" Marik yelled, as the spirit flew around him and into the room.  
"They're- wait, you can _see_ them?!"  
"YES."  
Aka winced again from another sharp pain.  
_THAT'S IT._  
The patience in her was done for. She was being tortured long enough. Aka growled as she turned around and stormed back into their room. She almost ripped the jacket off of herself and threw it on the bed, revealing the purple glowing markings. Then she grabbed the millennium staff and directed it against one of the ghosts. Her staff started glowing as she formed a force field in the shape of a tiny ball and launched it towards the spirit. Aka was learning how to use its' power for offense, instead of defense. But the spirit swiftly evaded her attack and howled, almost mockingly. "What do you want from me?!" she yelled, twisting and launching another ball at one of the spirits. The room was filled with them by now…  
"Akane! Calm down! You'll destroy the room with that thing!" she heard.  
Aka glared at Marik. "Get out."  
"What?!"  
"Get out!" she growled, narrowing her eyes. Marik was in the room by now, staring at her in disbelief. He didn't move.  
"I said… GET. OUT."  
Akane directed the staff against him, and before he could react, she created a field around him, harshly pushing him to the door. Right after Marik was shoved out of the room, he could only glance back at her for a split second, because she used the staff's power to slam the door shut.

"Now then, since we have some privacy, tell me... _what the f*ck do you want from me?!_" Aka yelled at the spirits.

* * *

**AN:** sorry guys, updates are really slow because I have a LOT of work on my hands now… :( and be prepared for an insanity chapter, which will be either the next one or the one after that. She's going loco!


	17. realm

**DARK HIGHWAY  
Chapter 17/realm**

Ishizu groaned as she heard knocking on her door. It wasn't time to get up yet. _This better be important…_  
She went to the door past Odion, who was sleeping on the other bed in their room. He was a heavy sleeper; no wonder that knock didn't wake him up.  
The knocking became hastier. "I'm coming, for Ra's sake…" she groaned, still trying to get herself out of sleep mode. She found Marik standing behind her door, looking pretty pale.  
"We have a problem."

*crash*  
The table lamp was no more. Akane, panting deeply, fell to her knees. She's been blasting the spirits for a while now, having no luck at all. You'd think the security would show up sooner or later… But hey, they all had monsters to worry about. With another heavy breath she looked at her right arm – the markings were still there, glowing. _And here I was, thinking they'd disappear after the spirits left my body._ Then Aka looked up at them. The ghosts were circling around the room as usual. It felt like they were trapped with her. As if it was her duty to free them, to take care of them. By now Aka didn't view them as evil, now in her eyes they were just upset and angry, but not at her. _Maybe we're not so different after all…_  
Soon after this thought, she noticed the room getting darker. Aka tightened her grip on the staff, and started talking to the spirits.  
"We're really not that different, eh… You guys want to get back at Yami and Bakura too, for imprisoning you with me… Even our goal is the same…"  
She stood up, eyeing the shadows that were filling the room. She grasped her staff even tighter – that action made the shadows consume the room even quicker.  
"Heh… We're not different at all…"  
Her silent laughs drowned in the darkness.

Marik woke up Odion and dragged both him and Ishizu out of their room, to wake up Yugi. Yugi greeted them in the same manner Ishizu did. "What's going on…?" he asked, rubbing his eyes, "Did we oversleep?" Yugi referred to himself and the Pharaoh.  
"No… We have a much bigger problem… Akane's gone mad."  
"Huh?" all three of them said in a chorus.  
"Okay, so, here's what happened… When Aka fell asleep, I went to turn off the lights in our room. When I did so, I noticed something glowing under the sleeve of her jacket. Right before I was about to lift it up to see what it is, she shot up and yelled at me, asking what I saw… It was as if she was… watching me. Then I tried to make her show me what it was, until-"  
Marik then was cut off by a roar and something crashing outside.  
"…that happened. If you could all just make your way to the window…"  
"Yes, has anyone else noticed it's too dark for-OH RA." Ishizu exclaimed when she saw the view behind the window, as Yugi opened the curtains.  
There were even more monsters tormenting the city by then.  
"As I was saying… After this it got even weirder… All of a sudden, there were some sort of ghosts, spirits, _something_ coming out of Akane's right arm, the one I saw glowing under her jacket. She was surprised that I can see them, as far as I understood they were with her for a while now… I'm guessing in her dreams. After that she didn't listen to a word I say. It was as if she stopped caring about everything. She turned around, went back to our room, which was already filled with a bunch of those ghosts, took off her jacket, grabbed her staff and started blasting them. Then I saw that her arm… it was filled with some purple tattoos. They were glowing. When I asked her to stop, because she'll blast our room apart, she glared at me like mad and told me to get out. And well… I just stood there like an idiot. Until she forced me out of the room with her staff's power… When I was pushed out of the room, she slammed the door right before I could glance at her one more time… her eyes… she went nuts…"  
All three of them, Ishizu, Odion and Yugi stared at him for a while. He knew that the Pharaoh was listening to this as well.  
Then finally, Ishizu spoke up: "I'm…surprised we all haven't gone _nuts_ in this situation…"  
"It's not she situation, Ishizu. I know Akane well, better than all of you combined – she's too strong to give in just because of the _situation_. I'm pretty sure that it's that Ra damned staff that's corrupting her…" Marik said.  
"I've never heard of a millennium item that would _corrupt_ anyone…"  
"You've also never heard of an 8th item, sister…"  
"Marik's right." their attention was turned to the Pharaoh, now taking over Yugi's body, "We know nothing about this staff, it might just be an item made to _look_ like a millennium artifact, just to fool people. Whatever it is, we should at least try getting it away from Akane… We might just save her."  
Yet another roar was heard from outside.  
"And then we could get back to saving the world… Or at least finding out how our two _friends_ are summoning real monsters…" the Pharaoh continued.  
"I think I have a clue. But first let's get that thing away from Akane before it corrupts her completely." Marik said, motioning to follow him.

The group first woke up Ryou and gave him a brief explanation of what's happening. After all, seeing how crazy Aka was going, they wanted the most help they could get. The hotel seemed pretty empty, everyone probably evacuated after the monsters showed up.  
Soon all five of them stood in front of Marik's and Akane's room.  
"It's suspiciously quiet inside… So… Who's first?" Ryou asked. "Seems like it's unlocked."  
"I'll go. Maybe we could just talk to her… and…"  
Marik opened the door. Each of them froze because of what they saw.  
Akane, in the middle of the room, had her back turned to them. She was sitting on the floor. It was like the Shadow Realm moved to this room. Everything was dark, but they could see the spirits flying around her.  
"Ah… Creatures of light… I knew you'd come here sooner or later…"  
She heavily stood up, and turned around to face them.  
Never has the group seen such a wicked grin on her face.  
"I hope you're here to join me and my army."

* * *

**AN:** yeah. So that happened.  
Uh.  
Yeah…  
Anyway, the timeline will screw up a bit, because in the next chapter I will write out that insanity thing… or I'll at least try to. It's about what's been going on with Akane when she was in the room alone. Never wrote insanity before, wish me luck! Although I have no idea when I'll update.

Reviews loved!

PS: NEW PICTURE ON PROFILE. It's been a while D: I wanted to upload that one soooo baaaad. It came out great. If you stare at it long enough, you might think that the markings are really glowing... What?.. Glowing...? Nonsense!...


	18. sanity

**DARK HIGHWAY  
****chapter 18/sanity**

"I'm just as angry as you are…

I never wanted to get stuck with you.

I hate you… just as much as you hate me…

We weren't meant to be.

You're not supposed to be here, you're supposed to rest.

We all need to rest, it's just that you need to rest permanently…

We're not different at all…

Our mutual enemies show that…

You were sent here to help?

You're just servants, who haven't done their duties properly?

What do you mean?

Ra?

I don't underst-..

…

Oh…

Well, let's direct our hatred against the reason, then…

Creatures of light?

Of course they will help.

They have no choice, I'll make them help.

I can make anyone do anything.

If He gave me this power, He knew I was capable of maintaining it!

What?

You can't tell me that He didn't know I could use it for my own gain.

He did.

Of course He did.

Then why pick me?

I'm becoming just as sane as Yami.

Through fire justice is served?

That's what He asked to tell me?

This is all I get?

A magical stick, some servants and some lousy quote?

Ack!

Alright, no need to be mad at me.

After all, you're MY servants now.

I'm the mayor!

I'm the mayor of this room!

What?!

No, listen to me!

I KNOW what I'm doing.

I'll get you out of this.

Along with myself, I'll get us all out of this.

Why can't I stop these echoes in my head?!

I can't fight like this!

Wait.

Yes, I can.

The creatures?

Can't you help me otherwise?

But promise to leave afterwards.

You won't stay in them.

I will burn you if you will.

No, no, no!

I know I don't have time left!

Stop it with the ticking!

I can't just leave!

I won't let Him take me like this!

It's not over and He knows I can save myself.

Then what else does he want?!

Why should I do this?!

Who made me the mayor of the world?!

There are a thousand of others like me!

Am I really?

That's flattering.

You're all to kind.

Thank you, thank you.

But I know what I'm doing.

Don't try to tell me otherwise!

I told you, I will talk to the creatures of light!

I'm a creature of light!

What do you mean?

I still am!

I…

Not yet…

But I will go back to it…

They won't believe me?

They will think I'm insane?

I'm as sane as the…

The…

There's no need to justify the meaningless destruction…

Everything will come in time…

Just as long as I complete the tasks…

My tasks...

Pretend to be surprised.

Please, make this your home.

I will take you to the battlefield.

I will give you a way to function…

And it will all build up to a big BOOM…

No, no.

I will take care of them; you should take care of THEIR servants…

I'm alive.

I'm smiling.

I'm so tired of being dead.

I will take you there…

Be my distraction, and I will take care of the one whose fault this is…

The other one?

Didn't He say that he is insignificant, that he will not be a problem?

Good then.

Come back to me.

We're about to have company, my dearest, darkest creatures…

And soon you'll be just as bright as our friends…"

"Ah… Creatures of light… I knew you'd come here sooner or later…"

"I hope you're here to join me and my army."

* * *

**AN: **it's…an update, I guess? I was in the mood. Don't expect the next chapter too soon.

By the way, do pictures not open anymore on my profile? My shitty drawing I mean Because I got another one I drew a while back for an upcoming chapter... Aaand now I'm wondering where to put it so you guys can see and get a better idea...


	19. trials

**DARK HIGHWAY  
****chapter 19/trials**

"Return to me." the group heard Akane say, as she raised her glowing arm and the spirits swiftly dived into her arm. She didn't take her eyes off of the five individuals standing in front of her.  
As the spirits were once again with her, the darkness in the room lifted. Although it wasn't gone completely – after all, it was dark outside, for who knows what reason.  
"Now then." she continued, "Will you just stand there, or answer my question?"  
"Akane…" Marik spoke up, "Are you… Could we just… Have a look at the staff for a moment?"  
His words were cautious, and the girl noticed that.  
"Sure. Come here."  
Marik looked back at the others, as if questioning them, what he should do. All he got were just reassuring looks from them. He gulped, and walked up to her.  
Akane was holding the staff in front of her. Right when Marik was about to reach out to it, she shifted the staff in her hand into vertical position. With the speed of light, the staff's pointy end was right below Marik's chin, slightly poking it.  
"Don't you even _dare_ touch my staff." she hissed, looking him straight in the eyes.  
Akane then moved the staff away and turned around. She then went to the balcony, leaving the shocked group behind.  
Cairo was a mess. The monsters were still causing havoc upon the city.  
_Why me indeed…_ she thought. Akane eyed her hand, the one without the markings. It was shaking. _If I can't even contain myself from going insane, how am I supposed to fix all this?_  
The girl looked at the city one last time and then turned back to the group. They were discussing something quietly. She walked back into the room and banged her staff on the floor, to get their attention…and startle them.  
"Listen up. You're going to help me, whether you like it or not. You, Odion, find a car. Preferably a pick-up truck."  
Odion was lost. He knew that if he refuses, anything can happen, knowing how stable this girl was at the moment. "But... Miss Akane, with all due respect, if I go outside, those monsters will attack me."  
"There's one right by the door. I'm pretty sure you can get there unnoticed."  
"But how will I get the keys?"  
"OH PLEASE. You've worked for this guy for years, I'm damn sure you can steal a car if you have to!" she yelled, pointing at Marik.  
Odion couldn't do anything but nod.  
"Good. Everyone else get out find something to defend yourselves with, as I want to change. We're going into battle."

Yami's maniacal laugh spread on the desert. "I cannot believe this is working!" he yelled.  
He and Bakura were standing not far from the ruins, enjoying the view of their monsters lurking around. Most they had sent to the city, but kept some close, just in case.  
"Too bad we don't have any more cards…" Bakura said, then added after a pause: "Although I'm still a bit concerned about our dear Akane and her magic wand."  
"No need to worry, Bakura… When we've both encountered her, she didn't attack us, she only defended herself… If we don't attack her, those _spells_ will not backfire. Meaning we will simply be standing still, each one of the two sides doing nothing." Yami said.  
"What if that changed?"  
Yami turned around and faced Bakura, who was standing about a meter away. "What do you mean, _changed_?"  
"What if she found a way to use it against us first? That item seems powerful. And not knowing anything about it bothers me even more. Although I'm bloody sure that it isn't a millennium item. It couldn't have been." Bakura explained, confident about his opinion.  
"Then if it only looks like one, it's a fake." Yami turned away again, irritated. "Just stand back and enjoy the view of chaos, Thief King. I'm certain we will be having guests soon enough… and boy will that be _fun_."

"You can't be serious!" Marik half-yelled, half-whispered to the Pharaoh. They were all standing outside of Aka's room, waiting for her to come out. Odion had already broken into the car they needed. "This can put her in even greater danger! She's already lost her mind!" he continued.  
"Marik, listen to me." the Pharaoh was trying to reason with him, "I know she may seem insane right now, but you can see it for yourself – our enemy is the same. What drove her out of her mind was the whole situation caused by your yami and Bakura. We're lucky she's directing her frustration towards them. It seems that all she wants is for them to be defeated. I know that staff may be trouble, but it's most likely our only hope, and who if not Akane could use it?"  
"So you're suggesting we should let that thing corrupt her even more?!"  
"Keep it down or she might hear you!" Ishizu shushed her brother.  
"Marik, we don't know if it's corrupting her. It could simply be the situation, or the machine that separated your yami from her. What I am suggesting is that we should let her keep the staff. At least for now, at least until we confront our enemies."  
Marik wanted to protest again, but the door flung open. Akane had changed into long gray jeans and a sleeveless black top on straps. She kept her orange fingerless gloves on.  
Aka eyed the group, it was obvious that they were arguing about something. She narrowed her eyes at Marik, who was staring at her, as if saying, "Don't try anything."  
But all she did was walk past them. Marik wanted to rush after her and just rip the staff out of her hands, but Odion held him back by putting a hand on Marik's shoulder. He turned back only to see Odion shake his head. Marik then gave up and decided to agree with the rest. The staff might help, after all.

Before climbing down the stairs leading down to the hotel's main hall, Akane turned back to the five. They were standing still and looking at her.  
"Let's go." she said, "To battle."

The group didn't even look at each other and started following her without hesitation. Maybe it was the staff's power, or maybe it was just the fact, that they had a strong leader in front of them.

* * *

**AN:** oh shit wow I updated. Yeah. I promised not just to you guys, but to myself as well, that I will finish this story. And I will! Just about a few chapters to go… Don't get lost.


	20. useless

**DARK HIGHWAY  
chapter 20/useless**

"Pharaoh," Akane spoke up, as the group was walking down the stairs, "I have a question for you. Can those bastards do anything with the millennium items, if they do not have the Puzzle?"  
"Nothing that I know of." he answered, "Although as you know, I don't have much of my memory… So there is a chance they could be capable of something."  
She let out a sigh when they all entered the main hall of the hotel. The hall was completely destroyed either by monsters or vandals, who were just looking for a chance to steal something.  
_How useless, _she thought, _people see their world crumbling into pieces, and yet they still care about material things. Saving them seems so…useless…_  
Aka turned back to her followers, or, as she called them, _the creatures of light_.  
"Alright." she started, "I hope everyone found at least something to defend themselves with. We don't quite know what we are going against."  
She eyed the group: Odion, Ishizu and Ryou had found metal spears, most likely from the statues that were all around the hotel. The Pharaoh had his Puzzle, but also found himself a decorative sword that used to hang on the wall behind the reception desk, it was better than nothing. Marik, on the other hand…all he had was his dagger. But hey, a dagger can be even deadlier than other weapons, if you know how to use it.  
"Now, I can't tell you what exactly we will do, as we don't know what awaits us in the desert. Or, at least, that's where I assume our _friends_ are."  
Aka looked outside through the glass door. The pick-up was standing right in front.  
"Odion, you'll have to drive us there. The ruins that we have to reach are only slightly further from your old home. Everyone get inside of the car, I will be riding on the back, so I can blast the monsters away from us, if they try to attack. When we get there, you're on your own. The only actual threats are the millennium items, so I want you to find them and keep them away from Yami and Bakura. Understood?"  
"What about the monsters?" Ishizu said, "If we're correct, they're using the machine to separate their monsters from their cards… I am almost certain they have kept some with them, as guards. Are you sure you can take on all of them?"  
"I'll take care of that. No questions asked. Just protect yourselves and find the items. I'll deal with the rest."  
She turned around, heading towards the exit of the hotel as the others followed her. Then, after a pause, added: "And Marik…"  
He immediately turned to her. "Yes?"  
She motioned for him to come to her to talk in private. "You all go to the car and wait for us there." Akane said to the group.  
As soon as they left, she threw her hands around Marik and hugged him tightly. It both startled him…and calmed him down. Finally, it felt like it's the real Akane. He hugged her back, and asked: "Something's wrong, isn't it?"  
"Listen to me." she started, still hugging him, "If something happens to me… If I don't make it…"  
"Don't say that." he interrupted.  
"Take the staff. The chances are low, but who knows, you might be able to use it."  
"But-"  
She pulled back and cut him off, looking into his eyes: "Don't argue with me… Please."  
"Akane… You don't have to do this, you're risking your life, you're insane…" he said, and instantly regretted his last word.  
She didn't take her eyes off him. After a pause, she hugged him again, only this time a lot tighter.  
"I'm not insane." she whispered, "Just very angry."  
Akane let go of him and without saying another word, she started walking towards the exit.  
Marik could see it. She clearly wasn't crazy after all.  
But what he didn't like was that the second hug seemed like a _goodbye_.

Odion opened the window by the driver's seat. "Are you ready, miss Akane?" he asked.  
Aka was in the back of the pick-up truck, standing in its trunk, holding on to a metal handle on the car's roof. The staff was in the other hand, the right one.  
"Yes." she said, "Let's go. Drive fast, but safe, Odion."  
Odion nodded and right after that, the wheels screeched and the car was moving forward at a fair speed.  
The monsters soon were aware of their presence.  
_Come and get me._ the girl thought as she saw the monsters charging at them. _Come and fucking get me._  
Akane started blasting them immediately. One after another they were turned into shards, just like holograms in duel monsters, and yet the others were not afraid to charge at her.  
As she was blasting them away and trying to keep herself from falling off, there was a conversation happening inside of the car.  
"I don't understand… Akane knows she could just project a shield around the car and we would all be safe, wasn't that the first thing she could do with the staff? Why risk it and aim at the monsters, what if she misses? I don't get it…" Ryou said.  
"It's because she doesn't want to." Marik answered and heard a "huh" from every other person in the car. Each one wanted to ask what happened between them back in the hotel, but decided not to bother him… Marik had enough things bothering him from the inside already…especially the worries concerning his girlfriend.

If she wanted to, Akane could listen to their conversation. But she didn't care. This is all she needed. The wind made her relax. It muted all of the horrible roars and groans of the monsters. She didn't even aim much – every monster was knocked out by a swift movement of her staff. While her anger was being released upon them, her nerves had a little time to relax. She knew she didn't have much time for that. Soon they would be at the desert, where she would be the most important figure of them all. It was like a game, where losing wasn't an option…  
But for now, she didn't let herself think about that. She kept blasting away the monsters and enjoying the breezy wind. All her worries were gone.  
Soon the monsters were either finished, either what was left of them were too afraid to charge at her. But Akane stayed in the same position. Her hair being messed up by the wind, her staff in her hand. The girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  
_I don't want it to end like this_.  
She knew what awaits her, but she didn't want to give up just like that.  
_I'll find a way to save us all…_  
She opened her eyes and looked at Marik though the back window. He was sitting there, leaning on the door, deep in thought…and crushed inside. Akane knew he wasn't concerned for his own well-being, even if she wished he would be.  
_I can't just end it like this… I can't leave him like this. You hear me?_  
She lifted hear head and looked at the sky.  
_I'll find a way._

* * *

**AN:** wow I'm updating pretty fast! It's just that I really want to finish this story and you know… Not do a 3 year long hiatus again :I yeah.  
Just a few chapters to go… Maybe just one, even. Yup. I think it's just one.  
Hey, and shout-out to SerenePanic again, for still reading this story and reviewing every chapter. You're awesome :)


	21. vulnerable

**DARK HIGHWAY  
chapter 21/vulnerable**

"Odion, stop the car for a bit!" Akane yelled loud enough for him to hear through his window. They were close to entering the desert. Reaching their old home would take about another 20 minutes. Odion did as he was told.  
"What's wrong?" Marik asked after opening the window where he sat.  
"Nothing, get out."  
"What?" he said in disbelief.  
"Get out of the car and come here. You're riding in the back with me for the rest of the trip."  
Without questioning her motives, he got out of the car and climbed into the pick-up's trunk. He sat down, leaned to the front of the car and pulled Akane down with him. She flopped down harshly between his legs, as the car suddenly started moving again. Then she just leaned on his chest and let him hug her from behind.  
Only after a long pause, Marik spoke up: "You're not telling me something."  
Akane didn't answer. She wasn't even sure how to answer this question of his… Especially when even she didn't know what exactly will happen. Her staff was still in her hands, but she wasn't holding onto it like mad, unlike before. Soon after she let go of the staff, leaving it to roll to the back of the trunk.  
"Don't leave me in such obscurity, Akane…"  
"Just stay away from me when we're there and… Everything will be alright."  
She heard him sigh. "These days you tend to lie…"  
And again, she stayed quiet. She only felt him take another deep breath and hug her even tighter.  
It felt like she became vulnerable to every action and emotion as soon as she let go of the staff. Oh how she wanted to just let her emotions take control over her and just cry for a while, so her nerves could calm down. But she couldn't even do that, as then Marik would know that something is terribly wrong.  
And they just sat there in silence, waiting for the inevitable.

Time flew by and Akane soon heard a familiar roar.  
They arrived.  
Without even looking at her destination, she escaped Marik's grip and reached out for her staff. Akane grabbed it and then reached into her pocket. To Marik's surprise, she took out a few of her duel monsters cards. The girl eyed her target – the car was still moving, now sideways of all the monsters.  
There they were. The two vandals that were screwing with her head for this whole time, and their guardians – the monsters from the cards. As Odion was about to stop the pick-up, she stood up, put one foot on the edge of the trunk and got ready to jump, but then felt a grip on her arm. She looked back to see Marik, also standing, staring into her eyes. That was a look that said "don't go"…  
"I'm sorry…" she said and kissed him with every bit of love and passion in her heart she had left.  
"For what?.." he asked, as she broke the kiss.  
"For letting you down."  
Those were the last words she said to him before jumping out of the trunk. Holding back her tears, she stood up after landing softly on the sand. This was it. Her eyes were on the target. Her staff was in her right hand, while her cards were in the other. Now wasn't the time to be sad, or get scared. Now was the time to ignore Marik yelling her name for that very last time… and run into battle.

And thus, she let the madness take over her once more.

Akane lifted her hand with the purple swirls and twirls into the air, holding her staff.  
"NOW!" she yelled and the spirits that resided within her were released. Right after that, she threw her cards into the air. The ghosts, _her minions_, quickly charged at the cards, taking the bodies of the monsters that were on those cards…and soon she was surrounded by an army of her guardians.

Yami and Bakura were about 10 meters away, loudly arguing about one of them being wrong. She could see that they are surprised, _a lot_, what was an advantage. Then she turned her attention to her minions assembling around her.  
"Eatos." she called out, looking for her beloved monster. Guardian Eatos completed her deck. It soon appeared in front of her, as the leader of the rest.  
"Protect them." she said, "Don't worry about me and just protect them."  
Eatos nodded and hovered by her side, waiting for the permission to attack.

"What now?! I told you we need a back-up plan!" Bakura yelled at Yami, who was carefully watching Akane and her movements. To him this seemed like a game. A game with a lot of violence. He would send his monsters to attack her guardians. While they are busy, she would obviously charge at them, but it's one fake millennium item against two of their. And if she's hiding something, he would send his monsters after her beloved Marik – his hikari, who he despised. And if their monsters are too busy, well, he'd go after the guy himself.  
But he didn't like the confident and angry look on Akane's face. She was standing far away, but even at such proximity he could feel how courageous she is. She seemed…insane. Mad. Crazy. Yami didn't like that either – it was his job and nobody could do it better.  
"Oh well, Bakura." he simply said, "Looks like we'll have to fight back, then. Who knows, this might be _fun_."  
Yami raised his millennium Rod into the air and with that the monsters, both his and Bakura's, hovered behind them. Bakura groaned and got ready for battle as well, letting his energy flow through his millennium Ring, making it glow.  
"Careful with the spells. We don't want them to backfire again." Yami said.  
Then, he moved his arm in front of him and declared attack.

And so did Akane.  
"GO!" she yelled. As the spirits started flying towards the enemies, she started running as well, glancing at Marik one last time. He was ready for battle too, standing his ground and eyeing the approaching monsters.  
Aka put her eyes on the target again. With the staff, she created a shield around herself, to repel attacks from monsters. They had already collided, while she was catching up. Before getting within a fairly small distance between her and Yami and Bakura, she yelled out to her monster:  
"Fairy Archer! Change of plans, get rid of the irrelevant one!"  
Fairy Archer shot an arrow at Revival Jam and quickly flew to her master, floating with her as she ran towards the enemy.  
Luckily for her, the _irrelevant one_ was standing in front of her real enemy. Akane took down her own shield and put one up around Fairy Archer. When Yami noticed she was charging at him, he tried to blast her, but due to the shield, it once again backfired, making what he said before quite ironic. Akane knew he won't make any more surprise attacks, so she took back the energy from the shield and left Fairy Archer to deal with Yami. She then ran a few more meters and found herself standing in front of Bakura.  
"So, how am I so _relevant_?" he asked, making Aka understand that he heard what she yelled before.  
His ring started glowing even more, eager to unleash its power.  
"Yami isn't much of a problem. However, you haven't just gotten on _my_ nerves…"  
He released a blast at her, yet Akane swiftly dodged it without even putting up a shield. It was easy to see all of the invisible blasts, as the sand moved from the wind that they create  
"You've angered someone _much_ more powerful than I."

* * *

**AN:** PROFILE GO. New picture of Aka running to battle yo. I'm actually pretty okay with this one.

Okay so not ONE chapter left.. The next one is last I swear.


End file.
